Red Moon Winter
by bleedingxinxspace
Summary: AU. What happens when you meet the person that completes you? What happens when you sleep with them? What happens after they disappear, and meet them a year later? Those are the questions that Toushiro needs to answer. Rating might change.
1. Crush, Crush

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Bleach at all, or else I would support the Cientific Method of Language--and would burn Methods of Investigation I books for free.

**A/N:** I am back with a new story, after lack of internet, material to work with, a bloody plot, and because there's no freakin' time to do anything in this world now that I have started college and two weeks following for partial exams--so my apologies for not delivering this new story earlier for those who read _The Bridge of Silence_. Sighs, but hope that this story is good, if not then I'll delete it and start again.

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

"In visions of the dark night I have dreamed of joy departed-"

~ A Dream by Edgar Allan Poe

+…

_Prelude_

+…+

It hadn't been something that one could control, something that couldn't be stopped at all because it had happened suddenly. There was no choice, no way of going back and put it right again; such chance no longer existed. Perhaps it had been, for a few weeks, but the choice couldn't be made. This longing was like a sin, something unworldly--it was so strong. A precious sin.

+…+

Parties. A single plural word that could easily deceive the minds of many due to its messages, whether they were subliminal or simply a bandwagon--Toushiro failed to understand any of it at all. He massaged his temples to beat the upcoming headache that was pushing its way, every nerve was pulsating. Parties weren't that great, they were usually rowdy and extremely wild--not that it would matter at the moment seeing that he was sitting inside a club.

The drink on his hand was untouched, his emerald green eyes locked upon the figure on the floor as his girlfriend danced around with random people; not that it mattered. It was her birthday, one that only came once a year and it was the only time that which he ever came out. Dance clubs, small gatherings on someone's house or whatever were not very much liked by him; anti-socialism ran deep in his roots.

Saturday nights spending it alone, studying for no reason and for the nights being all quiet--they were much better compared to the loud music playing. There had been no reason whatsoever to come up with a lousy excuse, something plausible that would deem itself proficient enough to be bought by Momo. That was impossible, she was demanding and extremely bossy most of the time.

"Come on, Shiro." She had begged mere hours previously, trying so hard. Her stare had been demanding--again--and not one that wouldn't be so easy to evade this time around. After all, he had gotten himself out of a date due to a lousy exam excuse (thankfully she didn't attend the same school as him), but nevertheless she got extremely annoying.

Everyone wondered, his friends questioned as to the reason why he continued to date her, since she was already obsessed with a much older man. Toushiro hadn't been much aware of that one, mainly because he didn't feel the need to question her love towards him; as if that would be childish behaviour. He didn't get it himself either, she was whiny and bossy all the time towards everyone, always wanting the outmost attention from everyone of her friends. The centre of the universe could be over, if she were chosen to become the centre.

"Lets dance, please." Momo tugged on his arm, attempting to pull him out of the small chair lounge.

"Dancing is not for me, you continue having a good time." He expressed, getting his hand away from hers before being dragged into the mundane world of club dancing.

The intoxication from the alcohol was getting to her, he knew that much, because Momo wasn't great at holding her alcohol intake at all--perhaps due to the lack of her club social up comings. She smiled simply, her soft pink lips tugging a devilish smile as she grabbed a random guy and pulled him on the dance floor. It wasn't like he should get jealous, should he? There was no reasoning to get jealous, mainly because he didn't give a damn about it anymore--should he just end it?

There were so many things in this world that were confusing: women, alcohol, laws of gravity, clubs, and those absurd teachers at school. Briefly, Toushiro shook his head before leaning back and closing his eyes. The smell of sweat mixed with alcohol and smoke weren't doing great, it was adding to the pulsating headache and it was slowly becoming slightly blur to think straight. He imagined a cool touch to his forehead, perhaps that was an imaginative thought of cold, and then warmth spreading over his body for the after effect of the unknown reality.

"Dance." The voice indicated, it was soft and hypnotic. He felt his legs move on their own, his arms finding a waist. No, that was impossible.

"What are you doing?" Whatever coherent thoughts were running on his brain still made him aware, despite the lack of making his limbs move according to his orders.

"Dancing, what else?" The voice whispered so gently, hot breath brushing against his ear.

The lights cast a strange glow upon the dark haired girl, her perfect lips tugging a smile on them as her body was against his; pressing more and more. Toushiro didn't know what to do, simply dancing with the strange girl and running his hands on her naked waist, feeling the perfect skin under his calloused hands seemed to only mattered. Her chuckles were light, so perfect as her dark eyes lingered on his locking him on a stupefied expression as she snaked her arms around his neck to feel him closer.

"I hate dancing." He muttered breathlessly, allowing the strange girl to have her way with him.

"So do I, but what the hell." She whispered in his ear. The hot breath moving from her mouth was melting him, almost like he would turn into a damn puddle soon. He felt her lips brush against his ear, down to his neck as the sensation sent electricity across his entire body.

"Its wrong." He was breathless, completely hypnotize by music and her actions.

"Doesn't matter, I see your girlfriend doing this all the time." She chuckled while staring at him. Her hands were still locked at the back of his neck, she was a demon. "You're miserable, trust me."

She pulled him down to kiss him, to allow herself to indulge on his own pathetic misery--perhaps more like a pathetic excuse existence of a man. Her mouth was warm, not like Momo's at all, it was soft and very welcoming as she ran her tongue across his lips trying to seek an entrance. He wouldn't allow, he shouldn't because it would betray the trust between him and Momo. Though, was it true on what she had said earlier?

"I can't." Toushiro murmured against her lips, trying hard to push himself away, but failing miserably.

"Don't matter, really. Be miserable if you like, be guided into the madness of the world were lies and misfortune exist." She smiled at him, but not letting him go.

He was confused, all the coherency and rational thinking weren't making a connection to his brain at all. Everything around them slowed down, must had slowed down because he felt his ears turn all fuzzy inside as nothing seemed to go inside. All receptors in his brain had shut down, no thinking could cut across the barrier that was blocking his rationality.

"Can't. Mustn't." It was a mantra running in his head. What would Momo do? He couldn't afford to have a fight--again--with her because there were other things to worry about. The she-devil was playing dirty tricks as her fingers trailed on his chest and down to his abs, the sensation was hot and very bothersome for him.

"You choose misery?" She asked, resting her chin against his shoulder as her breath continued to brush against his neck. "Mm, or maybe you can choose bliss?" Her whisper was like a command, but before any response escaped his lips, the stranger had slipped away and back onto the crowded club.

The lights bounced across the dance club, everyone dancing still or else passing out somewhere already, but where had she gone at? His teal eyes scanned his surroundings, all of the noise and everything seemed to come to him slowly, but his eyes only wanted to find the devil. Momo was becoming problematic, almost like trying to solve a math problem with a scientific process, and he couldn't stand it any longer.

"Shiro, we're going." Momo had pushed herself to where he stood at, but there was a guy already at her tail holding onto her waist.

"Go, I'll catch up with you." He turned around and pushed himself out of the mass, trying so hard to find the mysterious girl that captivated him so much.

The night continued to grow darker, the minutes ticking away as his legs dragged him into the very back of the club; shortly after Momo had taken off with the random guy on his convertible. He hadn't cared, it was better if she would simply run along and never bother him, but that was a little bit too much of a wishful thinking. Teal eyes soon found the figure standing against a black car, her figure looked even more astonishing out in the moonlight as the tight clothes fit perfectly almost as if he could see her naked underneath them.

The alley wasn't so long, in only three strides he was across it as his lips found hers, they tasted like a mix of alcohol and citrus. It was sweet, it was a hunger that needed to be satisfied as she pulled away from him and muttered quickly for him to get into the passenger seat. Without any obligation or demand, he followed orders like a dog salivating for food, and got into the cold black leather seat of the car.

Minutes felt like hours, the street lights seemed to grow slower as she weaved across the almost empty streets, and his eyes couldn't look away from her mesmerizing perfect face. It looked soft, almost delicate under the lights that flashed across the dashboard from the coming cars on the opposite street or the street lights, but in the moonlight it looked much better. There hadn't been anything else that could go inside of his brain, only that the strange sensation growing deep inside that needed to be satisfied before driving him mad.

Shortly after she had parked, she opened the door quickly and got out. Toushiro followed her example, but he was so desperate to touch her again that it didn't take seconds before his lips were against hers again. He was hungry to taste her, to completely melt in her very core and allow his mind to travel into a state of unforgivable bliss that would put him into a fluttery state. Like a daydream, always thinking about how that hunger was fulfilled like no other time before.

In the darkness, he felt her hands against his body--warm and hot against his own skin--the softness of her hands holding onto him as his own hands felt her body. She was like a goddess, her whispers like the music of a siren…a sin far too tasteful to pull away from. His brain had become completely broken, every single pragmatic thought no longer existed as Toushiro allowed himself to be taken over by the demon, the only perfect demon that could ever exist in the entire world.

It had been foolish to do something so stupidly like this, deciding to fulfil a need greater, far more greater and climatic unlike other previous times with Momo. She wouldn't do anything right, almost like she was afraid of such physiological needs of a human, so there was nothing that Toushiro would get out of that. Only running out of her apartment into the night, but never getting satisfied at all.

Nothing made sense, the world outside didn't exist anymore with the strange girl that he held onto. Her kisses were hungry, almost like she felt the same way as him, but he wouldn't know. They were almost there, the heat that continued to grow more and more radiant was getting ready to explode, but he wouldn't allow himself to be the first one. She was rather willed, her nails dug against his skin as her screams infiltrated the room, and he panted heavily.

It was a mess now, there was no going back from this stupid mistake done. He didn't know her name, he didn't know anything about her, only that she was ever so perfect. The archangel that had appeared out of no where to save him from damnation, he wouldn't know what else to think of that, only that he wanted to hold onto her forever; such forever couldn't possibly exist though.

+…+

+--Crush, Crush--+

The air smelled of winter, it was chilling and cool as the snowflakes fell continuously onto the cold ground, and tiny specks of white were slowly forming in different spots on the ground of the park. Toushiro laid on the bench, head bowed as his eyes read and re-read the chapter of his book for the 4th time in one hour, but it was getting rather tired-some as he sat there like a complete idiot. It seemed as though snow was collecting itself against his silvery hair, but that would be nearly impossible to tell due to how it resembled the white snow as well.

He felt silly sitting there, perched like a damn bird waiting for crumbs of bread to be thrown at it to eat, but people were starting to stare at him. Was it not normal to see a human being sitting there, waiting? Surely it wouldn't be normal as the temperatures were extremely cold, almost like a normal being would turn into an ice cube, but he wasn't normal at all. Being raised in cold places had helped, usually he would prefer the cold weather compare to the blistering heat of the summer.

"I'm sorry, I got stuck in traffic." Momo was breathless, her hair was wind swept. That was the millionth time that which she had made him wait, it was becoming restless trying to fulfil her commands of going on an effing date for no effing reason.

"Don't worry, you're here." He answered. _Wished that it would've been cancelled though._ His thoughts were turning very much corrupted for no reason, but he didn't seem to care much. "Where do you want to go?"

With that, Momo smiled widely and clapped her hands together. Either, the date would consist of romantic rubbish or something very dull, a lack of a meaning of anything. As Toushiro fought the urge not to roll his eyes, he was tugged across the park. Too bad there hadn't been a reasonable excuse to have skipped yet another date, despite the fact that he turned down an invitation to a bloody jockey game. Perhaps watching some guys hitting a black little disc with a stick would be more entertaining.

A year had passed of simple wishing, of simple daydreaming of the mysterious girl, of her appearing suddenly in front of him with the perfect angel face. Feeling the silky hair, the satin smooth skin and kissing the perfect lips to taste summer on them seemed still unreal. He didn't know why sometimes his mind returned to a year ago, almost like that seemed to only exist in his mind all the time; though he still paid close attention to his classes. In only a matter of months he would graduate, perhaps in a matter of days his damned curse would be over.

Though, nothing in the world could prepare anyone for anything at all, it was like life seemed to be always unpredictable and completely restless. Life was always a gamble, a chance that every single human being had to take in order to fully comprehend the little life they were allowed to live because life was so complex, an existing role of the universe.

His eyes stared mindlessly at Momo, nothing that she was spouting about seemed to register on his brain at all because he was focused on something else. The sugary scent of the coffee shop were the only things that his brain function was aware off, nothing of the surroundings was really being processed at all. Her body language was a whole conversation of its own, whatever it was that she was talking about seemed to take a different meaning, almost like she was desperate to get out of whatever it was that she had forced herself to get into.

For what seemed hours and days, his bright eyes finally managed to pull away from her and take a look around the coffee shop. It was like those traditional tea houses, it was packed with many costumers due to the weather outside, and it wasn't so loud like other normal coffee shops. He spotted a bright patch of orange in the distance, that was not normal at all; then again his own hair was not normal in any way at all. The guy held onto a child on his lap, his son perhaps? There was a girl besides him, her violet orbs glowing with happiness as she played with the baby.

Families nowadays were not normal at all, they were no longer valuable and strong like in the past, even his own family couldn't compare to the rare tight families. His father lived somewhere in Shanghai, running the underground business and being the administrator of a hotel; his mother on the other side lived Brazil with her lover, running a small firm there and designing clothing. There were no siblings at all, it seemed like his mother hadn't planned to have any at all because 'babies ruin my figure' excuse.

The smiling couple suddenly stood up, the orange haired male putting the bills on the table and picking up the diaper bag. He looked young, he was well built and tall unlike his partner, who was petite and short compare to him. As the couple walked towards him, the baby turned and stared down at him with his shockingly bright green eyes. There was a shock running inside of him, almost like there was a message there that was coarsening on his brain, but it was failing to be understood.

"Aw, he's so cute." Momo had stood up from her seat. Toushiro hadn't known that the couple had stopped, but there was no doubt that the child was not theirs. "Is he your child?"

"No, he's my nephew." The orange male answered, his adoring stare followed his companion. "We have two already, and another one on the way." The adoration was very much there, something that Toushiro didn't share with Momo at all.

"You two look young, not that it's any of my business." Momo chuckled softly, playing with the baby's hand. Though, his eyes were locked onto Toushiro.

"Ha-ha, we're only 25." The raven haired woman smiled, touching her small bulge and looking at the man. "Almost six years of marriage, but it was a good choice."

Toushiro didn't pay any attention to the rest, only that the child that was staring at him looked familiar to him because his smile reminded him of something. All of the memories of all the people he had seen had turned blurry, only a few faces stuck out into the memory lane there, but it was nearly impossible to put his thought into it. His mind became slightly numb, his hand wanting to reach for the child that felt so familiar to him almost like the child belonged to him in some unworldly way.

Quickly though, Toushiro was snapped out of his daydreaming as a girl had entered the picture. They were standing outside now, the girl smiled and took the child from the man's hands and kissed the baby; was she the mother? She looked young, very young and beautiful on the black jacket and aviator hat, despite the lack of more formal wear and the look of a mother. In an impulse, he stood up and looked outside to see the girl better because there was that existing feeling like he belonged in that picture.

"Toushiro, what's wrong?" Momo asked, her tone was worried as she too stood up.

"N-nothing." He swallowed her as the girl had turned to look at him. Those hypnotizing dark eyes, those perfect lips forming an 'O', but quickly vanishing from sight.

Everything was on impulse, his legs moved at their own accord as he ran out into the cold weather to chase after the mysterious girl. The longing to know, the longing to see and touch her again was ever so present for the past year. Wanting to get rid of Momo, wanting to feel free, wanting to feel like he belonged somewhere--they were strong feelings that had engraved themselves inside of him somewhere. The rawness to them was simply the small scratch, the many nights spent dreaming of touching the perfect angel had become like haunting nightmares that would never end, but then again he hadn't gone to find her at all.

He ran across the streets, chasing an invisible ghost and hoping to find proof that she existed, not only the memory of touching her and feeling her so close to him. Chasing, chasing…that would never end at all. In the end, his feet grew tired and he stopped running, stopped chasing after someone that should be better off forgotten; but the sad thing was that there were now questions that needed to be answered. He wanted to find her, wanting to find out the truth and hopefully find his right place. Wanting to fulfil the need to be close, to know if that child was close to him or not, but mainly, to know if he could stay with her.

* * *

_How was that? Ugh, college reallly sucks and there's a lot of crap to do. I will not update regularly because there's no time in the day to sit down and time, even at the moment there's tons of homework and studying to do. Sighs, but that's just another thing. Well, hope this wasn't so bad at all. It's short at the moment, but college keeps me ever so busy with their homework and stupid work. OCC and all of that rubbish, but that's normal coming from me. So, please review and be kind, don't have time to really answer the negative rubbish at all--trust me I get that from my Methods of Investigation I professor already; don't need anymore. Thank you for reading!!!_


	2. White Adour

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach or any of its characters because Marco Polo flew to the moon on a horse (long story about that).

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

_+…_

"…_a look that borders on anticipation, adoration, and something akin…"_

…

+--White Adour--+

_Her moves were sensual, her curves smooth as silk and everything about her screamed out beauty in every way. She was intoxicating, inviting--everything about the mystery that she was seemed captivating on its own as she continued to whisper wantonly at him. Her hands touching him everywhere, his own hands brushing against her skin and feeling its warmth. Her lips were soft against his--this was the perfect adoring moment. _

"_Make love to me…" She whispered sensually, throwing her head back as his lips brushed against her exposed neck. _

_There was nothing compare to this, nothing that would undo it in any way, it was perfect. Every nerve on his body was like a wire, one that was alive as his movements seemed to follow her indications. She was real, she was there in his arms as she moaned against his ear and she wrapped her legs around him. This was the perfect moment, it was so right--yet it felt like a sin. There was no getting out of it, it was done and there was nothing to do about it--she was perfect. The sinful siren underneath him, writhing in pleasure…she screamed. _

+…

The cold breeze was ever so present, so cool and alive the air was as it pushed the thick grey clouds filled with snow--it continued to dump onto the city despite the fact that it was already late February. The winter days seemed to only continue grow longer and longer, Toushiro walked aimlessly in the street while tugging onto his thick dark blue jacket to protect himself from the cold. It wasn't a good day at all--the weather, Momo being pissed, wedding plans to assist in, school--it was definitely not a good day at all.

Escaping that life, wondering like a zombie around town was the little freedom that he could get at the moment, before being sucked back into the black hole. There was nothing that held a meaning there, nothing that would really be important in life at all--only the misery that continued to stretch itself farther and farther into his destiny.

It had been two months since then, since the day that which he seen that girl and the child causing him to become confused as to what to think about it. It was a possibility that he had father a child with that unknown girl, the same eye colour and the familiarity that Toushiro had felt towards that baby. No, there couldn't be anyway that he would be the father at all, or else, she would've come searching for him and tell him about it--would she not? He did not know anything, which was becoming very irritating and frustrating to carry around because it would mean that the girl would be in danger--not from him--but his father.

He entered the bar, completely unaware of the time at all since he was due to return to his state in only a few minutes before having the entire security people look for him. That thought alone was tiring, being treated like a small child and being watched broke against his privacy, Toushiro did wonder sometimes if he was even allowed to think on his own.

"Tch, much too early for young children to come to my bar." A rough looking man appeared from behind the counter. His black hair was put up in spikes, tiny bells had been threaded in--the many scars looked very natural against the rough nature of the strange man.

"There's no time needed to consume alcohol." Toushiro replied, glaring at the man. "Give me some vodka."

The man laughed ferociously at him, the flashy canine teeth were shockingly white. His laughter was rough, matching him perfectly. "Sure kid, you didn't drive here. Did you?"

"No, I'm only here for a drink." He expressed, turning around to look at the shabby looking place.

It wasn't one of those expensive bars, it was more cosy and welcoming unlike those other snazzy places with the loud music. No, this one was quiet and very still, surely people would come here to escape the rough life of their jobs or whatever. The place was barely lit, with the exception of a few lanterns--who had lanterns nowadays?

"Here's your drink, kid." The man had served it. "You sure you're the legal age?"

"Does it matter? It wouldn't be my first time drinking." Toushiro snatched the drink and took a sip of it.

"Must be rich kid then--the ones that rarely come into a place like this." The bartender chuckled to himself, looking at a certain table where two men looked like they were about to go at it. "Home life mustn't be that great then, school is just as always, being forced into a marriage puts misery all in red in your life. Am I right?"

The simple people could easily read him, the man was very smart despite the look of him. "Yeah, you could assume that." He stared at the two man that had thrown their glasses to the floor. "Shouldn't you stop them?"

"Nah, let them go at it for a few minutes." The man pulled out a rag and started to clean the bar stand.

The men were shouting at each other, breaking the silent atmosphere of the bar and breaking things. Surely, bar fights had never taken place in Toushiro's life at all, this felt like the first time seeing real fights between drunken men. Even the fights taken place in the parking lot didn't compare to the ones inside a place like this, it was a rare treat and he was surely going to enjoy it. Sooner then later though, one of the man had been thrown against the table and it broke in half.

"Alright, alright…Yachiru time to take trash out." The man whistled across the room, to a little corner of the room that was dark.

"Hai, Ken-chan!" The girl's voice was squeaky, almost belonging to a little fiver year old girl.

Squinting like an idiot, Toushiro saw a young girl rise from the table in the corner and walking towards the table where the man were fighting still. She was skinny, she looked far too young to be in a bar with a bunch of men--wait--what the hell was the barman thinking on sending a little girl to break out the fight?

"What the hell is wrong with you!" He suddenly shouted, looking at the spiky haired barman. Though, the man simply laughed.

"You'll see, don't get all pissed off like a princess kid, just watch." The man grinned wider, his teeth showing thru.

Though Toushiro should have concerned himself slightly more, there was nothing that could have prepared him to watch a young girl punching the two guys and dragging them out of the bar. First assumptions surely did change instantly, the girl smiled at the barman and skipped back to her table again.

"Told ya, now are you finished so you can scram?" The man was at eyelevel with him.

"No, quit your bitching." He grumbled under his breath, continuing to sip on the cold vodka that burned his throat. That reply felt like a middle school girl, that wasn't very proper of him, but he didn't care at the moment.

The hours rushed like nothing else, they ticked quickly and the day was growing thin as his pocket started to vibrate. Thankfully, he hadn't brought the other phone, the one where his father would call to find him quickly--the tracker that would easily give out his pinpoint in the map. Though, it would've been better to have bought the new one, which didn't really have much to it. Why, why had he made the mistake to bring the one where Momo would call to.

"Avoiding the girl forever won't ever solve the problem." The barman spoke suddenly, watching him cautiously.

"She's the one I don't ever want to see, despite the fact that we're getting married." He stared at him icily, and picking out his phone to see the many missing calls.

He didn't reply though, he simply pushed himself away from the table and pulled out some cash to pay for the drink. Roughly, the little drink hadn't done anything to him at all--not even a buzz or anything. The cold air hadn't disappeared at all, it hit him like rushing water and it made him shiver unwillingly. He crossed the street and into the small book shop he frequently visited during days that he felt like escaping reality, walking into the fictional world of Dickens, drowning in some dark thing with Poe--those worlds seemed more comforting at the moment.

"Good morning, Hitsugaya-sama." The young cashier girl greeted him with her smile, simply nodding to allow him to pass by.

The world of books was far greater, far more real then life that it was impossible to never stop himself from reading something so good. Reading was only the second thing on his list that could stop Momo from bothering him, despite the fact that currently his pocket was buzzing with her continuous calls like always. She was pissed because he had refused to go to her house, it wasn't like spending a few hours at the Hinamori estate would do any good with their marriage at all.

Hinamori wasn't even in love with him like she would claim, everything about her had become a lie that only continued to be stained darker and darker. Just last month he broke up with her, she hadn't ended up well with it and had begged her father to make the arrangement to have the two of them married by Spring. If the world would have ended at that moment, Toushiro would've gladly welcome it with open arms--though there hadn't been anything that would prevent such marriage.

The entire Karakura town had been glad of the announcement, always wondering if the two would ever get married; it was the fairly tale love. All of the people that Toushiro's father knew had already begun to make arrangements to be at the wedding, to see the young Hitsugaya marry to a woman of good background and finally settle with a family. It wasn't like there was a need to marry suddenly, only having turned 21 there were many things to look forward to in life. It was a pathetic excuse to commit suicide now, though that wouldn't be that generous of his part at all; so Toushiro had no way out of it.

"Excuse me, Hitsugaya-sama." The cashier approached him silently.

"Yes, what is it?" He turned to look at the young girl. She looked around the aisle of books, seeing that no one was around at all while pulling out an envelope from her pockets.

"Here, someone gave it to me at the door when they saw you enter." She whispered softly, looking still panicky. "Don't ask any questions. Read it and follow whatever it says." Before Toushiro could respond to such strange act, the girl ran off back to her post before being spotted by the many eyes in the store.

The envelope was plain, only a small 'K' decorated the corner of the white envelope. That was rather strange, no one knew the truth about his father's business at all nor was anyone in this town aware of anything at all. Though, he ripped the envelop open and pulled out a small note that was scribbled in elegant writing.

_Go to the back, I'm waiting for you to talk. Come alone! - Stranger from the Club_

He arched his eyebrow, carefully turning the paper front and back to find if there was something to this strange thing. Though, no one had found out about the time in which he had slept with the girl from the club only a year and something ago. His heart suddenly began to beat fast, wildly as the scent of that girl's perfume from that night surrounded him. This was a dirty trick!

In a daze, Toushiro pushed the book back into the shelf and retreated quickly to find the back door. The store wasn't new to him, it was almost like every single room no longer felt secret to him as his father had bought it long ago just for him--even though Toushiro still had to pay for the books. Rushing to the back, he was literally desperate to find the girl and start to question her to no end. Though, he wasn't really ready to be pulled into the small storage room in the back at all.

"Wh--" His mouth was covered with a cold hand, hot breathing brushing against his neck.

"Shh…" She whispered against his ear.

The small room was--well small--it was really hard to fit inside the room and it was really intimate having her so close like that. He slowly turned, she turned the small lamp on the side and it revealed her perfectly in front of him as always. She pulled off her hoodie to reveal the long black hair that cascaded around her perfectly, her face had matured a bit more and her red lips shined under the light. A small smile tugged on her lips, but there was some strange expression at the back of her eyes.

"I--its--you." He sputtered, stepping back slightly and looking at her up and down.

"Yeah, pretty much." She stepped forward and raised her hand to put it on his chest. As much as Toushiro wanted to touch her again--his will fought against it and he pulled back. "Sorry."

He stared at her looking uncomfortable, unwilling to run away and looking rather disappointed with herself. She leaned against the wall, her head tilting downwards hiding the pretty face that he loved so dearly.

"Sorry, for what?" His voice was hard, almost cold. "Not telling me anything, leaving like that or what?"

She looked up. "Everything, I should've come to you sooner but things prevented me from doing such."

"Yeah, that might've answered many questions that day I saw you." His glare intensified. "Are you trying to drive me insane? Do you enjoy with pleasure knowing that I'm suffering?"

She flinched, almost like they had had this conversation so many times before. How come it could be so natural? Usually, most conversations with other people required much more thought and process, different messages in order to be able to decode and code things in one go; though not with her. They were talking--more like arguing--like an old couple and it was coming out rather natural.

"No, will you let me explain?!" She looked at him, shocked and scared. He nodded simply. "I couldn't come and find you--not with the news that I was with your child. I knew you, I knew that sleeping with you would come with a terrible price, yet I did. There was nothing to be done, nothing that could prevent any of those events from that night--something that should've happen to prevent the child from coming to this world."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Toushiro's eyes were widened, he stepped forward and grabbed her shoulder tightly. He wanted to understand why she would act like that, it was an impulse of feeling protective over his…son. "How dare you speak like that!"

She pushed against him, but couldn't. "We're different, there's nothing obvious about that."

One minute Toushiro was angry, the next he allowed his many dreams to let themselves fulfilled as his lips crashed against hers, wanting to express every single thought and emotion in one. She needed to feel his frustration, his longing, his paint--everything he felt needed to be expressed in one single kiss.

"Who are you?" His voice came out breathless, his eyes smouldering over her as he held her against him.

"Ku--Kurosaki Karin." She was breathless as well.

Toushiro knew that family so well, despite the fact that no one really talked about them much after the death of Kurosaki Masaki many years ago. They were an honest family, Kurosaki Isshin was a famous doctor in his younger years, until deciding to settle down and open a small clinic in Karakura. No one really talked about his family at all--only about Masaki when she had been murdered horridly as their only son watched.

He wanted to continue asking her questions, to find the truth and everything else that stood hidden at the very moment. Why had things lead to now? It felt confusing, it felt like nothing in the world made sense at the very least, unreal and unwanted. He continued to kiss her without thinking, erasing the entire year and so many months that which had passed by them.

"I-I can't." She broke away, pushing him back. "This is wrong, very wrong. You're engaged."

Toushiro frowned like a little child, getting closer to Karin as to make her uncomfortable--though he was proving a point. Karin--the thought of her name made him become so lost--it was the first time being affected by a woman like that. He had never imagined anything so strongly like this, despite only knowing her from the very distant point, it felt like he knew everything about her and she knew everything about him.

"Does it matter?" He asked suddenly, kissing her face and holding her still. "Why didn't you come sooner?"

Karin tried to pull herself away, fighting against the heat that radiated from the man that held her still. She knew it would hurt, knew deeply that the consequences of falling in love with a stranger and the son of a powerful man would never yield anything good in life. Only pain, suffering, misery, pity…all of those feelings that came with loving someone who was so different.

She had thought about it for so long, since the day in which the doctor had announced that she was with child after having lost her virtue to a man like Hitsugaya Toushiro. Acting like they were complete strangers felt more right, it allowed to create a feeling of realism, but knowing that reality was nothing compare to it. It was wrong, it had been so wrong to have lead him into a trap just so she could see what it was that was so great about him; knowing that he would never be hers.

It was jealousy, it was want, lust…everything including in those feelings had manifested itself into a large pool of unknown certainties. Karin wanted to fight against the strange pull she suffered with him, wanting to break him down so he could remember her clearly from the past. After seeing him that day, seeing the look on his face had been the very one that she had wanted to see, but it was at the same time heart breaking. Now, things stood at the very end of the thread as they would soon fall apart right in front of them.

"Stop, please." She pushed him backwards, hard. "I can't do this with you! I've only came to tell you the truth about your son, but only that. You don't have to support him, you don't have to be a part of his life at all--just remember that he is yours. Maybe you don't even have to accept him, it would be best if you thought of neither him or I since you're getting married."

"What are you talking about?" He expressed angrily, yanking her back towards him. "Not think about you. If that could be possible I wouldn't be here now, would it?"

"Let go off me, now!" She hissed angrily at him. "Don't come looking for me if you know what's good for you." She slapped him hard in the face, yanked the door open and disappeared.

Toushiro didn't even know how to react to that display, one minute he was kissing her senseless and she acted like there was something wrong with her. Karin was mysterious, causing him to become overly confused about her, but at least he had gained something out of the meeting--her name and the truth. There wouldn't be anything that would get in his way now, not even the fact that he would be marrying Momo in the Spring. Toushiro wanted her now, wanted to have her in his arms without having to worry about anything in the world.

As he looked down at the floor, there was a note left behind. The same 'K' decorated the envelop like the one previously--he knew far too well that this wasn't a coincidence.

_Come to the 11__th__ Division bar, I'll be waiting._

There was no getting around it at all--it wasn't like there was anything to be gained for missing dinner at home at all or a meeting with Momo. He took the phone out of his pocket, roughly he opened the back where the memory stick and battery were located at. A tight grip on it, a strong pull back--Toushiro slammed the phone against the wall. The apparatus shattered in pieces, there wouldn't be a single call that would bother him at all nor anyone that would follow him by means of tracking him with the phone.

Toushiro ran out of the store in search for that shabby bar that which he had entered earlier, his mind racing along with his heart that beat fast. Kurosaki Karin was in his mind now.

* * *

**A/N:** _This chapter does not fit my standards, but I'm making a lot of you wait for it. This chapter could have been better, but I'm trying my best seeing that I don't have time to type anything at all. 2 weeks worth of exams really did fry my brain completely--only two weeks free--until the 23rd of this month I'll start the process again. Ugh! I apologize greatly in advance for the lack of good material on this chapter. Don't hate me, or the story. Anyways, moving to the "Thanks Box"_

**Moon Of Jupiter**_: Thanks for being the first to review--thank you! Accidental son--yeah I really haven't seen one story that has that element, well none that are Hitsu/Karin I mean. So yeah, decided to go with that. Thanks for the support, but very sorry for this crappy chapter. _

**Shizuku700**_: Thanks, I'm trying hard to update as fast as I can, but college just doesn't let me. I apologize for this crappy chapter though, don't worry I'll try to make it up in the next two chapters. _

**HOSHItoNORAINU: **_Thank you for the comment, and sorry for this chapter. I know it could have been better--college just completely fries my brain dry with any ideas. _

**WatermelonPrincess: **_I'll die of brain trauma lol--not really. But yeah, this chapter was supposed to be better but it just didn't turn out the way I wanted for it to do so. I know I'm moving along here pretty fast, but the relationship is going to be--slow-- at least I'm making this story like that. Thanks for the support though!_

**xxxChaosQueenxxx: **_Thank you, I tried. _

**shrimpnoodlesoup: **_Thank you, here's your update. It could have been better, but lack of time prevents me from doing so. _

_Okay, now thanks for the comments/favourites/alerts and all that good stuff. Sorry if this chapter, seriously it could have been better but its just difficult to write it without going insane with school. Not sure when I'll update, but it would be better-- its going to be a secret relationship between Karin and Toushiro--so please be patient with them. I know, I know--Momo is going to be in the picture for a while despite the fact that she's a total bitch in this story. Well, off I go now 'cos I have to read two pages of my Administration book, finish homework that's not due until Tuesday--but yeah. I did pass my exams though, with the except for my economics exam--got a damn 7 on it. (The scale here is from 5-10). Well, thanks for the support everyone. Remember, no negative rubbish--don't need anymore since I get it from my professor. Review please, it helps me understand what people think. _


	3. Fire and Ice

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach or its characters. I have no time to make plans to conquer the world, but until then, I can't own Bleach! :(

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

+---

_"Never its mysteries are exposed, to the weak human eye unclosed…"_

_- Dreamland_

…+

_The atmosphere sat cold, so unnatural as the many emotionless filled faces stared at each other waiting for one or the other to speak, but no one giving in on the satisfaction. The plain clock that sat right above the large oak door ticked softly against the quiet backdrop, with each single breath it continued to grow more quieter and more still. The man that sat in the middle of the table got a smirk on his face, his bright green eyes glowing under the luminescent lights in the room and he ran a hand thru his long straight white hair. _

"_Gentlemen, there's no need to become suspicious." His tone was soft, angelic and completely in harmony._

"_What's that supposed to mean, Ryo?" The man on his left, asked in a very thick accented tone. "Do you think we have come here for jokes?"_

_The man named Ryo said nothing, simply keeping the smirk painted on his face--it was easy to deceive so many in this world. No feeling could replace the adrenaline rush, to paint a lie into someone else's eyes seemed far too easy to do--it was a placid feeling. _

"_Think what you like gentlemen, but this is how I deal with my own business." His tone was the same, but there was always an existing danger that hid beneath his words. "I'm a powerful man that gets what he needs, therefore, I await for any of you to oppose me." _

_All the men that sat on the large meeting room stirred on their chairs, none daring to stand up against the greatest man in the underground business. He was dangerous, vicious and very ambitious when it came to holding power and money. Though, as much of a respected figure that he was, the choices that were oftentimes made were completely unexpected; especially the one of having his only son take over the branch of business in the United States once he was out of college. _

_No one ever said it was easy to handle the young master, not one that was just as ruthless as his father, but was very much different. A cold-yet-kind hearted kid, young and brilliant in the world he would become in the future, but handling a very dirty business? No one had expected that choice to come so soon, not when the young child wasn't even ready to handle the cold and ruthless world of the underground business that was far more dirtier compare to politics. _

"_We must abide to your choice, Ryo." The man on the right stood up, bowing at him. "Good afternoon men, and hope you're not making a mistake Ryo." _

_He smiled. "Never, but thank you for the concern Edvard." _

+…

+--Fire and Ice--+

"No, I don't like that colour." Momo tossed away the lilac cloth that had been given to her.

"Hinamori-sama, we have been with this choosing since last week." Inoue Orihime complained, tucking a piece of her fiery orange hair colour behind her ear. "Ishida-sensei is not going to be pleased to hear that he has to come on a very important date just so he can make you your wedding dress."

The fiery orange haired woman was sure about disturbing the fashion designer, after all, the day that which the girl before her wanted him to come was also the day that was his wedding anniversary. No one ever disturbed the great Ishida Uryuu out of his wedding anniversary, well there had been the exception for Kuchiki Rukia only a few years ago.

"I don't give a damn, even if his mother or father were dying that day." Momo shrieked as she threw another pile of textiles at the pile that was forming at the side of the bed. "Besides, I'm much more important unlike the rest of the world."

Orihime looked downwards at the floor and glared, trying to hold back many comments towards the very spoiled princess that kept on saying rather nasty things about people. Hearing such spiteful words being spoken like that, so lightly and sounding almost playful was rather crude from her--no wonder people didn't like her very much despite the fact that the media portrayed her like the most nicest person in the world. Lies!

"Jeez, what crawled up your ass and died Momo?" Abarai Renji stepped inside the room, holding his head high as always while fixing up his suit.

"Shove off, jackass." Momo jumped to her feet and raced to the bathroom. _Slam_.

"She's going to pull that door off its hinges, it didn't even do anything." He shook his head, turning to the woman that was ready to blow up at any second. "What's gotten you all worked up, Inoue?"

Orihime sighed but was still shaking up a bit, she stood up and started gathering all the textiles off the floor and folding them neatly back to the large bag that she had brought.

"I can't do this with her being all bitchy all the time." She muttered, trying hard not to rip apart the bag in her hands. "Anyways, how's Tatsuki doing lately?"

The red haired man was caught off in surprised by the sound of his future wife's name, it was still awkward talking about it because it wasn't like Tatsuki was happy with being married so soon.

"She's--the same." Renji bit his lip, turning away from the woman. "Almost due, any day now."

For months now, he had waited for the arrival of the little girl that his future wife was carrying in her stomach, but the baby just didn't want to arrive at all. The wedding was going to be during the fall, so there was no time to rush with any details just yet at the moment.

"I'm glad, well I should get going. Hitsugaya-kun wanted to speak to me at his home, plus I have to deal with other stuff with Kurosaki-san." She said, looking at the clock.

"Which Kurosaki are you talking about?" Renji asked, curious as to know which exact sibling she was talking about. Well, not like anyone really talked to Kurosaki Ichigo much since he was in England.

"Karin-chan, she's doing some change into the small venue downtown for an upcoming event." Orihime informed. "And, I have to deal with being yelled at by Ishida-san for not convincing the Princess on deciding something."

"Don't worry, Uryuu knows all of us--I'm sure he's not going to act that cold." Renji assured his friend. "I'll tell Tatsuki know that I saw you, she's actually being eager to hear where have you been." They chuckled at the same time.

"Hai-hai! Don't worry though, I'll come back from Italy and visit soon." She bowed at him. "It was nice seeing you Abarai-san, take care."

"Same to you, Inoue." He smiled as the woman left carrying a mundane amount of things in her hands.

He stood there in the room alone, briefly trying to recall the reasons why he was here in the first place. Oh, right-- Momo had been pestering him to come and have tea because she wanted to know what Hitsugaya Toushiro did while being away from her eyes. It wasn't like he would honestly tell her a thing, just because he was some detective and could easily make good money out of being a private detective didn't mean that he actually did it. No, serving the public was much more comforting and brought a lot more to him now that he was lead detective at the station, plus, following him actually took much more time.

"Well, are you going to tell me or not?" She entered the room, glaring at him and taking a sip from the cup in her hands.

"Not very nice, but I can't follow him." Renji didn't even bother to sit or anything. "Truthfully, I have a murder case on my hands at the moment; work with the U.S. government to deal with and with my future wife. I don't have time to play childish games anymore Momo, and besides, don't you think he's old enough to fend for himself?"

Momo glared at him rather fiercely, how could people be so unpleasant like that and downright useless in a time in which she wanted them? Toushiro had been acting strange and everything, something that was just completely odd from him and it was like he was hiding something from her. Many of her friends had already stated that she was overreacting over that little matter, but no one could prove anything. It was tiring playing the game, tricks and everything that came with it had become tiring over the past few weeks.

"I want to know what he's up to, and you're not doing your job Renji." She stated, folding her arms across her chest. "There's no need to act like a freaking jackass in front of me, and you know that."

Renji gawked at her for being rather cruel. "I'm a detective to the _city_, not your personal slave."

"Well, I'm not paying you to sit in a chair all day playing the good cop." She added crossly, a small smile on her lips. "Besides, I made you go up to that post because I know that station. And, didn't you get what you wanted as well?"

His fists clenched, the blood on them rushed off as they turned cold and white under the light of the room. If Hinamori Momo had been born a male, Renji would have his ass right here and now for everything that was coming out of her mouth currently.

"No, I became my own personal helper way before I met you in high school." He didn't know how he was going to deal with her. "You may know a few people here and there, but I'm not your slave or personal dog. And, you obviously don't pay my check at all--so quit acting like you own me."

"I do!" She shrieked, throwing the cup down at the floor. "I own you Abarai Renji, and you're being impolite to me at the moment!"

"You're not my mother either, so excuse me. I have real cases to deal with, not childish games with you." His tone had become exceptionally calm. "Don't call me anymore, not at home because surely Tatsuki will not hesitate to kick your ass like last time, and don't even dare to talk to me anymore."

With that said, Renji walked out of the room and out of the Hinamori estate. Regrettably, he knew well what Hitsugaya Toushiro was doing now that they had suddenly joined the same circle in society--except that the only man that didn't need to know what he was doing was thankfully in Europe. The lies seemed to only continue to grow more as each day went by, and Renji knew well that things wouldn't end up well at all. He sighed, defeated as he shoved himself inside his car--what the hell was he going to do about Hitsugaya Toushiro?

…+

The light danced softly against the small room on the apartment complex, the room was cool and there was no noise. The people from above, below and the sides had already gone off to work--leaving Toushiro to relax in his own room until class would start later in the afternoon. He turned, bumping into a warm body that was sleeping next to him peacefully. Karin had her arm tucked underneath her head, eyes fluttering slightly as she was dreaming, and the other arm was wrapped around her to hide her exposed chest.

Going for drinks the previous night had proved to have been wrong, Toushiro had known that now that they laid in bed naked after spending it having sex almost all night--why had one thing lead to another like always? One minute, he remembered clearly, she had been yelling at him after she had gotten into a fight with a costumer at the venue she worked at; and the next, they were having sex in the parking lot. It was wrong, so wrong indeed, but very good nevertheless.

"Stop staring me idiot." She muttered softly at him. Karin stirred awake and opened her eyes to stare at him, becoming aware that she was actually naked underneath the covers. "Well, damn."

"What?" He asked, looking at her.

"I missed reading a story to my son, that's what." She sat up, not really caring about how she was exposing her body so early in the morning to the man besides her. "I'm going to be a rather bad mother to him, and its because of you."

"Yeah, put the blame on me." He said sarcastically, looking at her still. "I've told you that you could move in to this building, and I can take care of him. Besides, he's _our son." _

This was the other subject that they oftentimes spent hours arguing about, not like it had been the child's fault in the first place, but there was still some insecurities to be dealing with. Karin didn't want to be seen carrying the son of a powerful man, or soon to be a married man. The scandal would form, people would be shocked and be very disappointed by that. Well, Karin really didn't care at all because it was her life and not the many lives of the aristocratic society, but there was an image that needed to be watched for carefully.

Ruining the Kurosaki last name would bring shame, she hadn't care if it was only for her, but there was her father and older brother that had to live underneath the name. Though, her older brother was the one that mattered the most since he was married to a very powerful family.

"You know I can't, haven't we had this conversation." She muttered, closing her eyes to think. "Yoshiro, use his name please."

"I'm not the one that has to hide it, thank you." He glared at her, putting his arms underneath his head.

"There are reasons why we have to hide, so quit acting like a fucking princess." She threw the covers and got out of the bed. "I can't believe that I came here with you, sleep with you again, and actually wake up with you. I'm definitely insane."

He sat up and stared at her, it wasn't that bad waking up next to her because it was actually comforting knowing that it wasn't Momo. For the past week, since he had met up with Karin at the back of the library in town, there had been many changes in his schedule and the many routines that had manifested themselves since the tender age. There was more time to fool around, everything school related was done on its time, but all the free time had suddenly gained their own perspective.

There were no longer those boring Saturday nights being spent locked up in his apartment, they were now spent outside in diners and other places with Karin. She knew how to have a life, well it wouldn't be really a life because for her it was work. Spending almost all nights handling events at the Hueco Soul club was hard, after all, she still had a home to return to and a child to take care. Toushiro used that excuse to get her to move into the same apartment building, people wouldn't even guess that Yoshiro was his son because there really wasn't much of a resemblence; only that they had the same eyes.

"So, now its my fault?" He got out of bed and pulled on a pair of shorts. "Put the blame on me for everything, well who's fault was it really?"

"Oh, now its mine? I didn't even say it was your fault." She threw him a box of tissues, which he easily dodged. "I don't have to deal with this at all, and you know my answers by heart."

"I didn't ask you to sleep with me, did I?" He glared at her.

"You took my virginity away, don't act like you own me." Karin was rather unreasonable for so many reasons, but she didn't give a damn at the moment.

"Again, you're the one that started it."

"Bastard!"

"Bitch!"

"Quit yelling!" She breathed heavily. "God, why in the hell are we acting like a bunch of high school kids?"

Toushiro shrugged, it was childish indeed, but they were touching subjects like they were literally married. He thought briefly: waking up next to her, arguing with her about small matters, taking care of her, having their son, being a family…it was a dream.

Marrying Momo would only become a personal hell, living everyday with her and dealing with her constant narcissistic complaints--that didn't seem to yield much in life. She only wanted to get married for power, money and everything that came with being with him. Truly, the reasons for marrying her were only because his father had said so--and it couldn't be disobeyed.

Though, he thought as to what would happen once he was married? Risking seeing Karin wasn't a good choice, or having Momo finding out that there was a son already in this world and there was no need for her to have one. Of course, she would go insane and try to have Karin and Yoshiro killed; another difficult choice that Toushiro would have to decide eventually on. Their lives were much more important, even if there was a risk for his.

"What will you do once I get married?" He asked, trying so hard to find an answer to this problem.

Karin stared at him, blanked, uncertain as to what Toushiro would like to hear as an answer. The problem itself wasn't so bad, with society lately, it was perfectly normal that people like them often had affairs. Though, she was aware that Toushiro wouldn't be the type to get married and have affairs--that is if he were to marry her. In truth, she wouldn't come and search for him at all, simply allowing him to get on with his life and never look back at her.

Living freely was the only way out, she didn't want to be the mistress to him as she was at the moment--marriage certainly would change things. Deep inside she had known, there couldn't exist a happiness for her like the rest of the world; even if Toushiro himself wouldn't be happy with Hinamori Momo.

"I don't know, haven't thought that far into--this." She looked away, pulling her black lacy underwear on and picking up her black pencil skirt. "The answer shouldn't be hard to figure out, that's obvious."

Karin kept her back to him, wanting badly to hear the comfort words of him coming up with a brilliant plan. As much as love could give, love could easily take away in a heartbeat; despite knowing that Karin held herself still in each moment spent with him. There didn't exist those sappy love stories, the ones where the hero and the heroine would lead a happily-ever-after life after the climax and resolution; it didn't exist. Toushiro was the hero marrying the unknown character in the background, she was the heroine that would be exiled into the unknown.

"Suppose you're right, much to my distaste." He had walked into the bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind him. She sighed, the atmosphere had turned against her and it was pulling her deep. How stupid could she be? Expecting the great Hitsugaya Toushiro to solve a problem, what had happen to the genius?

"I'm leaving, don't call me this week." She said, leaning against the door of the bathroom. There was rushing water from the sink, he spit.

"You're leaving?" There was not even a surprised tone to his words, which Karin felt greatly annoyed by.

"Work, besides, I want to go see my son after spending the night with you." Why couldn't he just say it to her? She pushed herself away from the door, and gathered the rest of her things. "See you later." She threw the door open, just as someone was about to knock on it.

The fiery red headed woman stood there, mouth slightly opened while brown eyes widening at sight. A light gasp escaped her red painted lips, surely Karin knew that she was screwed along with Toushiro, it wouldn't end good.

"Ka--Karin--" Inoue Orihime was out of words, something so unusual at the moment. "K-Karin-chan? W-what--who--wait--" She couldn't even comprehend the sight of Karin in front of her.

"Ah, hello." Karin smiled a bit, fixing up the wrinkles on her black blouse.

"Inoue?" Toushiro just had to appear at the right time, wearing the same thing still.

Inoue stared at them in shock, Toushiro wasn't wearing proper clothing and Karin looked like she had a rough night; they couldn't? Wait, they really couldn't possibly be? Again, Inoue stared at the ground and started to say incoherent things to herself--this was surely strange. Putting them together was really odd, surely this couldn't be possibly be happening at the moment.

"I-I…" Her voice trailed away again, finding it really hard to express the confusion she was feeling at the moment.

"Ah, shit!" Toushiro groaned, this wasn't good at all.

No one had the right to know, people didn't know that he was sleeping with Kurosaki Karin, and people didn't need to know. Though, at the moment, he was really hoping that the woman before him would breath because she looked like she might die of asphyxiation.

"Hitsugaya-kun, w-what's the meaning of this? Karin-chan!" Orihime was trying so hard to really think this was just a dream, or more like trying to avoid the reality of it.

"I have to get going, I'll leave it for you to explain." Karin smiled, walking past the woman and off to the elevator.

Toushiro was sure that this wasn't going to end up well, now that Inoue Orihime knew that he was sleeping secretly with Kurosaki Karin. He knew that she wouldn't say a thing, but how would things go about now? There was no way of going back, no way of fixing it because this was wrong--had been since the beginning.

"Come in, I'll have to explain it eventually." He allowed her inside, and shut the door close.

* * *

_Chapter three! Woot! Okay, so many of you would be wondering what the hell am I doing in this story. Sighs, but not to worry. No, Toushiro isn't a selfish bastard. Karin isn't a whore or a bitch. I still hate Momo, and she's a bitch in this story. Inoue--I'm working with her alright! Renji and Tatsuki--don't like that's too bad. Need to get back with Ichigo and Rukia--they rock. Alright, on with what I'm going to call it **the Bleeding Box**:_

_+The time alchemist- Thank you for the comment!_

_+Whitecloud1- Thank you, but I'm not done with her yet nor is she actually done with Toushiro. I'm working to that._

_+Panther X- Thank you very much for the kind words--it helps :D. And, well I'm trying my best to keep their personalities, but I like to play around. Hope that you don't mind, and thank you for the wishes. I really need them lol._

_+HOSHItoNORAINU- Thank you, hope you liked this chapter._

_+Shizuku700- Ah, thank you. Hope you liked this chapter._

_+yonne1104- Aw, you're so kind! Thank you though, really appreciate it. Yes, exams are really important, but they will always suck. I start them again on the 23rd, eek I'm going to die from brain trauma lol. Thanks again!_

_+Moon Of Jupiter- Ah, yes complicated problems--I'm trying to add more to it lol. Hope that you liked this, and thanks for the review!_

_+Le Rukia- Ah, thank you for the kind words. I try, though it is hard to keep updating often and checking everything--so my apologies for the many grammar mistakes I make. Sighs, but I'm trying hard :D. Thanks for the review as well!_

_+.StReEtAnGeL.-I think you're going to make me cry :) Thank you very much for the compliments, but as I always say 'there's always room for improvement'. WatermelonPrincess is amazing herself, she knows that by now I hope or else I'm going to have to send my super special awesome secret ninjas on her--okay not really lol. But I don't mind the long reviews, really. Hope that you like 'The Bridge of Silence' up to date, that's my best story I believe. _

_+--SORRY FOR THOSE WHO I HAVEN'T NAMED, BUT THANKS FOR THE ALERTS, FAVOURITES, AUTHOR FAVOURITES AND ALL THAT GOOD STUFF.--+ _

_Wow! Lots of people to answer, but I don't mind at all. Keep the reviews coming, they do help on getting work done seeing that usually I'm in low spirits with having tons of bloody homework to complete. Ugh, ugh...still had a bunch over my three day break--so bloody lame. Anyways, that's enough for me to write my damn autobiography--nah--wouldn't want that. Well, so yes Renji does now (for those who weren't quite keen on getting that odd part at the beginning of the chapter), yes Hitsugaya Ryo is an evil man (we all know that he's an evil bastard!), yes I'm also including different scenes (those who already know my work from The Bridge of Silence shouldn't be shocked), Momo is a bitch (wait, I repeated myself), Inoue will not have a love for Ichigo (I'm planning on coming up with something more with her, its time to play nice with her I think), yes Yoshiro is the name of the baby--blah blah blah...damn I have to go to bed in a while! Shit, lots of rubbish to do tomorrow at school. What will Inoue do? Will she tale? Will she keep it a secret? Why didn't Karin say anything? Will she be willing to take up Toushiro's offer? So many things can happen, but that's for the next chapter. Well, I'm going to try to update ASAP, but with the bunch of homework I get--there's no possibilities--exams start up again on the 23rd, so there won't be time to get on the computer and type. Review, no flames or negative comments--get that from professors at school--really badly! Thanks for reading! -**bleedingxinxspace**_


	4. Try To Keep

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Bleach or any of its characters. However, if I did they wouldn't be so awesome like Kubo-sensei (he's the master) creates them! Kubo-sensei is my hero!

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

_"'Tis but thy name that is my enemy…"_

_-_Romeo and Juliet

+--

_She blinked her eyes, dabbing away the tears from her eyes as the movie ended. Romeo and Juliet always had that spot for Hinamori, despite the fact that often she found herself to be a cruel person. She didn't care though, hadn't for many years since the first grade when everyone had been so nice to her because of how kind hearted she had been. Though, somewhere along the lines of middle school--things just changed rather dramatically. _

_"You cried on this damned film?" Kira Izuru shook his head. "I'm going home." _

_"Wait, you were going to tell me!" Momo stood up from the couch and stared at the blond haired young man in front of her. "Didn't you say that you had something to share about Shiro, now out with it." _

_Kira knew that there was nothing to be gained from being a spy for her, not when she didn't deserve to be love by any man other then the sadistic Aizen Sousuke. There was nothing to be gained out of it, absolutely nothing and therefore, he refused to share anything that he might know. _

_"I never said I did, so quit bothering me with it." He pulled on his light jacket, stretching out the wrinkles on it. "Don't you think that you're going too far with this? Hitsugaya-san doesn't like to be followed, nor is he the easiest to find in this world." _

_"That's what I'm worried about, don't you get it?" She was so desperate to find out the truth, yet, it seemed so silly to not trust her fiancé when he was away. All of their friends continued to assure her that there was nothing to worry about, after all, no one in their right minds would actually try to break off an engagement with her. The danger that they would put themselves into, no one would want that at all. "Fine, so you're not going to help either?"_

_"Can't, I leave for Ireland tomorrow morning." Kira stretched and made to open the door, but was stopped by Momo. _

_She glared at him, cheeks turning slightly pink and eyes glowing red. "Why are people so unreliable these days? Do think I like to fucking sit here like a princess?" _

_"That's what you put off as, so don't ask me." He retorted, and tried to pry open the door. "Look, Hinamori just stop acting like a paranoid bitch. Mia doesn't like it when you try to beat me, and she swears to kick your ass again." There had been prior consequences by being around Hinamori for so long, she had a tendency of beating people up or insulting them because of their incompetence. _

_She hissed at him, pulling the door open and allowing him to get out of the room. Why? Why couldn't people do what she told them to do? It had been so easy to deceive, to order them around back when they had gone to elementary school, middle school and part of high school. Most of the circle had gone off outside of Karakura, or away from it. _

_Kira had gone to Tokyo to attend the art school there, Hisagi was off having an adventure in some place in South America, Kaien was off being a photographer in the beautiful islands of Greece, Renji was playing the good cop, Inoue was becoming a great fashion consultant, Ishida was the famous designer with the pretty wife--in the end--everyone was off having a great life. They no longer talked to her, they acted like they no longer existed on Earth at all or perhaps they had forgotten what a telephone was. _

_No, they didn't matter and could just fall off the face of the Earth for all she cared. The only thing that Momo wanted was Toushiro all for herself, and there was no stopping her from getting whatever she wanted from him. After all, power and money came with a difficult road._

+…

+--Try To Keep--+

The production was becoming costly, there was no way in hell that Karin would actually bring the very much famous Arrancars just for the enjoyment of a fifteen year old teenager, who wasn't even old enough to comprehend what the word of economics was. Surely, economics and their foundations were an entirely different subject, and probably one that the girl wouldn't want to hear at all at the moment. She continued on to ramble to her mother, who just seemed to think 'kill me' and was ready to seriously jump off the balcony of the large club.

"You're disposed on bringing them here, right?" The girl stared dead at her. Karin wanted to seriously push off the girl, to tell her to be a bloody realist and see that the world didn't work like she wanted.

Spoiled children were useless, they were idiotic and were living off in a world of some unknown reality it was pathetic seeing parents continue giving them that high life end. She rolled her eyes as the girl continued on, why had she decided to come to work? Oh, right! There was money to be made now that she had a child at home, one who's father was rather rich, famous but also dangerous at the very same time.

"I'm not so sure about it, currently." She said, really wishing to have stayed at home instead.

"Kurosaki-san, do you think you can make all this possible?" The mother, who looked like she just wanted to leave quickly, asked.

"The Arrancars are highly famous, plus, they are on tour in Europe at the moment." Karin said, while putting up her paperwork on her brief case and fixing her clothing. "They aren't a band who would be willing to cancel a show just to play at some party, they don't come cheap either."

"Please, just make it happen." The woman pleaded. Karin didn't understand why people like them were willing to do anything for their children; it was pathetic.

She sighed, it would be hard to get this done. "I'll try, but I can't guarantee that I would get them to come and play for the party."

With that settled, she shut her brief case close and put on her jacket. The mother and daughter left arguing, as if there was something to be gained from making some spoil kid's dream possible like that. Surely, Karin was friends with most of the band members, but that still didn't automatically made anything easier. They were a respected band, for the most part, they were highly famous around the world and everyone wanted to know them. Surely, Grimmjow, the famous lead singer could swoon a girl over with a simple wink.

Working with the rich and famous had its drawbacks, really horrid drawbacks. I need coffee for this.

"Kurosaki-san, your brother called and said that he would be arriving in Narita tomorrow morning." Her secretary announced as Karin entered her office.

"Ah, shit! I forgot that Ichigo was coming--damn it!" She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to remember where she had written that at.

Only bits and pieces of memories of last week came into mind, but only the ones of her being crushed beneath the pleasure that Toushiro always provided--but that hadn't been the main point of trying to recall.

"And, someone unknown called and said something about 4th street tonight." The woman looked confusedly at Karin, but made no remark on questioning her because those were business that were private.

Karin nodded emotionlessly and walked to her office, trying so hard to remember that she had a meeting with Hitsugaya to talk about their stupid deal that they had come to agreed upon the day before yesterday…

"No, I told you that I'm not going to move in this building." She glared thru the mirror at him, despite the fact that he had his back against her.

"It will make things easier, for me, you and our son." He turned to look at her. "Besides, I'm not planning to return home this month at all." He hoped that she could reconsider, though Kurosaki Karin was rather hard to please and hard to convince with anything.

Karin sighed, knowing that this was a fight that wouldn't be won. So, what if she did move into the apartment building that was practically deserted and everyone minded their own business? Okay, there was a good gain from moving in, he could watch Yoshiro while he wasn't busy and she could work, but that would give Toushiro a lot of bonding with his son--something she didn't want to deal with at the moment.

"I'll think about it, but can't guarantee an amicable agreement." She removed her shirt and tossed it aside.

Again, she didn't get why in the hell she would agreed to something so simple like that. Turning on her laptop, Karin quickly typed the password and logged on her email account. The emails were junk, from her father (who flooded the entire thing) and others. There was one that caught her attention, the one that came from Arisawa Tatsuki-soon-to-be-Abarai.

From: **Arisawa_number_one**

To: **soccer_addict_1098**

_Karin,_

_Long time no see eh? Well, perhaps since that dinner last year with Ichigo and Rukia, but whatever. I'm not sure if you know or not know, but remember that my Pineapple-soon-to-be-husband knows about you and Hitsugaya? If not, obviously now you are on the know here, but don't let it worry you. Right, look I'm not here to write to you like I'm your mother or anything like that, but it's a warning as a friend coming from me alright. His--daresay--fiancee is becoming rather suspicious and has been bugging Renji about wanting to know where in the hell he hides (I don't even know how to answer that). _

_Also, Orihime knows and she's staying quiet about it, mainly because she knows that you are doing nothing wrong seeing that--well you know how she's a strong believer in true love and that kind of shit. So, she hasn't said a thing nor to anyone else, but I'm not sure how long we can continue on with this anymore. That bitch Hinamori is becoming a hindrance, keeps calling 24/7 at my house and you know that I can't run around with the baby at all. Anyways, but be careful and try not to do something stupid so you have more people to worry about finding out. That's all I have to say. Take care and lots of love. _

_Tatsuki (soon to be a Mrs.)_

So, Hinamori Momo was trying to snoop around to find out the truth. No one in the world could pin point Hitsugaya to a single place, mainly because he owned so many homes and gave out different addresses; it would be nearly impossible to find out where he lived and let alone what he did. It was tiring of course, hiding and always having to watch your back, Karin knew that by sleeping with Hitsugaya that was a problem to be encountered.

Karin stood up abruptly, shutting away the laptop and looking out the window of her office. Winning success in a small amount of time was great, having a lavish office and a great view. Though, at the moment she didn't want to think about it as she reached for her cell phone on her pocket of her dress pants. The phone was on the very top, only because the person had continued to bug about being number one on the list of speed dial. She hit the 'send' button.

"_Yes?_" The voice on the other end answered. A stream of traffic could be heard from the back, clicking of the keyboard could be also heard in the background.

"Meet me tonight at the shabby 10th Division." She looked at the city below her, eyes holding a steady look.

"_Awfully rare for you to actually contact me, but what the hell._" The voice answered, chuckling softly.

"Shove off, I need the favour. Besides, you own me one." Karin's tone was harsh, had been for so long. "Yourichi-sama."

The woman on the other line chuckled. "_That's my girl, but I'm not your godmother for no reason._"

"Whatever, be there." With that, the phone was put back on the table.

Yourichi would be the only person that could help, despite the fact that she was rather noisy and very loud most of the time. She had helped Ichigo so many times in the past, she had managed to fix things with God knows what kind of abilities she had, plus with the help of her--well Karin wasn't particularly sure as to what the man in her life really was. And, at the moment she didn't care as long as people would stop snooping around to find answers.

The privacy in life would never exist again, after all, Karin's face could be seen in so many magazines due to how highly popular she was with making really big events where the rich and famous would come to. Sure, the events in the popular bars in town surely had big crowds that often came, though to Karin it didn't seem to be highly important. At least, it was a job that paid well and there was no need to worry about being poor; not when she was also the daughter of a famous surgeon.

…+

The sun sat blearily in the sky, no clouds hung above in the blue sky at all and the days only continued to drag along towards the date of the wedding. Toushiro stared at the calendar in his kitchen, the big red square was like those former protest posters that would hang in cities--though this one was more like the death note to life altogether.

Thankfully though, Hinamori had decided to wait until the end of April, not that it was actually any comfort for him because that was only one more month that would drag on for ages. He was tired at the moment though, trying so hard to avoid thinking altogether because there was nothing more to think about except Karin--and that alone was becoming very annoying. Every single dream, nightmare, fantasy, other girl's faces and everything reminded him of her. The morning paper had her face splashed all over the entertainment section, the one that got sent to him from the U.S. and other countries also contained a small story over her.

Why though?

The question itself seemed so obvious, so completely stupid to even ask because Kurosaki Karin was the only person that could satisfy the pleasure that burned so deep in his veins, his heart and everything that was his entire existence. Of course, even thinking about it seemed so tiring and it often drove him into the border of insanity like no other.

"Hitsugaya-san, are you sure you'll like to continue like this?" Inoue Orihime spoke finally, it had been a good twenty minute silence she couldn't handle anymore.

"Whatever do you mean by that? Sleeping with Karin? Her having my son?" He stared at her brown delicate eyes, knowing well that she wouldn't even bother to really care about Hinamori's feelings--but who actually did?

"I don't think that applies to the question at all, or at least I think." She played with the ruffles on her navy blue skirt, thinking hard about trying to find a reason to the insane problem that Kurosaki Karin had put herself in. "What if Hinamori finds out? I know her, she won't take it lightly and brush it off like dust at all. She'll try to crush her, to ruin her life and harm the child."

Toushiro knew that, putting her life in risk was horrid, but the life of his son really did put a much more stressing note to him holding onto Karin. Hinamori, as from being pointed out by Inoue, would do anything just so that he would be with her for the rest of their lives.

"That's something that I can dispose myself to think about, not when Karin wouldn't approve of the protection." He sighed, deeply as the headache from two days ago seemed to have returned again. "Then again, there's a rumour that Kuchiki Byakuya has his people to watch for her safety."

"Ah, that is so true." Orihime chuckled, trying her best to change the mood. "Kuchiki-sama cares very much about Kurosaki-san's family, even though that Karin-chan or Yuzu-chan don't particularly have anything to do with the Kuchiki fortune."

He was relieved to hear that it was indeed true, but also it was something that could never be told to anyone at all. There was a lot of dangerous people that could do harm to Karin for the sake to ruin him, though at the moment no one knew about who he really was at all.

"Glad to know that, despite the fact that I worry still." He looked at the woman before him, she smiled despite of how serious the situation was.

Inoue wasn't very surprised that Hitsugaya-san worried about Karin, she couldn't contain herself to feel happy about that. She had remembered him when he had been young: alone, hopeless, cold, harsh and very mature for his young age. Of course, it seemed like he appreciated life more and was much more happy, even though that the happiness was given to him by a young woman just the same as him.

"Of course, but I think that you should worry once Kurosaki-san returns home from England with Rukia-chan." She stood up this time, picking up her purse and car keys. "Only a few people can be happy about this, but it can't be said about her brother though. Don't take him lightly, Hitsugaya-san."

Toushiro hadn't thought about that, of course, Kurosaki Ichigo wasn't a man with little to his name as he held the very respected Zangetsu Co. to his name managing millions of dollars annually by selling so many products across the entire universe. So, that was the brother that which he had seen in the tea shop on the winter day that which he had seen Karin.

So, Kurosaki Ichigo wouldn't be a man that would accept his sister to be dating the most famous underground prince and the highly dangerous man in Japan, despite the fact that Toushiro couldn't care any less about his power over some large project that was dangerous, even the government sought to be helped by the Hitsugaya Corp.

"Thanks for the cooperation, I know it must be hard to keep this a secret." He turned to look at her, a sincere apologetic look was placed upon his eyes.

"Don't mention it, just keep in mind that things would happen for many reason that I wished they would not." She opened the door of the apartment, taking a last look at the young man sitting on the chair. "Hope to see you at the wedding in a year or so, knowing well that you can't escape the fate that which you have set yourself in."

Toushiro gaped at her, confused as to how to take that comment. She left without explaining anything; she was like that and would never change. After all, she would oftentimes make so many weird comments, plus she would become a Mrs sometime in the next two years, since she would marry some French chef. Life was complicated, so he dare not care about other people's lives at all.

He stared out the window of his apartment, the city below looked so small and fragile, so innocent as the pastel colours began to paint themselves on the afternoon sky. The options were running low, his father had become impatient with the marriage date since he had wanted Toushiro to make his move to Paris in order to start business there, and everything was slowly turning into a more chaotic

It was frustrating, hiding and trying to be so inconspicuous about a lot of things in his daily routines had been gaining a slight confusion with the people that formed part of his daily life. His friends had been quick about finding out everything, though they could never be told the truth at all or else there could be danger, but they were highly capable of finding out if his mood wouldn't return to the old one. Sure, being slightly happy about everything couldn't be noticed by dense people, let alone Momo, who particularly didn't care except for her own feelings.

At the very least, tonight he would see Karin and get the answer to their proposal, the one that which would make him more aware of Karin's life and along with his son's. Though, he worried about how well his relationship with Yoshiro would be like since she wasn't very happy about having them bond at all. Perhaps that was the payment for being so stupid as to have never gone to look for her, perhaps it was simply because she was so hard headed and didn't want to deal with him in the future at all. Except, that he wouldn't force himself to have a child with Hinamori at all.

The thought alone was sickening, having children with Momo would be like seeing something hatch and look deformed. Sure that was cruel and unfair to think from his part, but he wouldn't bring himself to touch Hinamori for the sake to create children with her. Toushiro was satisfied with having one son, even if he would never know who his father was, that was fine by him even though it sounded sad. No, he wanted to be a part of Yoshiro's life because he wouldn't want for him to suffer the same way as he had when he had been a child.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated on the table. The screen lit up, the number was always familiar and the only one that was ever allowed to call on it.

"Yes?" He answered quickly, his turquoise eyes staring out the window again.

"_Missed me much? So quick in answering the phone._" Karin's voice was cool against the hot day.

"Maybe, maybe not. There's a lot of things that could be implied by my actions." He stated, running a hand thru his hair. "What's with the sudden call? Aren't you supposed to be working or something?"

She snorted. "_Like hell I would. The meeting tonight can't happen, my brother is due to arrive tomorrow and I have things to prepare._" He was afraid of that alone. "_Plus, I think that you should find out what your wife to be is up to. She's bugging my friends about you, and I'm not enjoying having to deal with them._"

Momo wouldn't keep out of his life at all. Though, he scowled at the previous comment because he thought about her like crazy and she didn't; was it fair? A tiny groan escaped him, it was nearly impossible trying to deal with anything, mainly because Karin was so damn proud and stubborn to understand human emotions. Karin continued to ramble on about her work, despite the fact that she didn't have anything else to do now that it was the weekend and there was only two events that which she would attend.

Listening to her voice alone was soothing, the bad day that which he had after exams eased with the fact that she just listed out the entire agenda of her day. There was no helping about dealing with the rich children since they were rather problematic, except that she could deal with almost any type of person due to how strong she was. Maybe that was another reason that which Toushiro admired her so deeply, there he went again thinking so silly about her.

"So you're not going to come?" He really needed to see her tonight, even if she was busy.

"_Toushiro, don't make this decision harder then it seems._" Karin sounded rather exasperated, which was rather normal since they often drove each other tirelessly on a road to the unknown. She breathed heavily. "_Tonight, just for tonight._"

"Whatever you wish." He exhaled. It felt like everything about his body was growing tired each day, almost as if he was suffering from a serious cold or something--every limb felt lethargic and his mind was so far away from him. Another long sight escaped him, it had been a long day.

+…

The pale moonlight entered inside the large bedroom, the stars painted on the black sky and blinking softly against it as a few clouds passed by with the light April breeze. The hours had grown long again, Karin couldn't take it being away from Toushiro for so long, but it was impossible with the overflowing traffic in front of her. It had been so sudden, a thing that appeared out of no where that it felt rather overwhelming because she never thought that she would actually fall so deeply in love with him.

For days now, every single men that which came across her view she found them uninteresting, and even the men that found her so interesting didn't even catch her eye. It was like they couldn't exist within her range, only Toushiro was able to make her feel needed and like a woman despite how lame it sounded. With every minute that a day ticked away her mind fluttered somewhere else, her heart would be fast at the thoughts of him touching her and making love to her. Was she finally going mad?

"I'm definitely not cut out for this." The sensation between her legs was becoming weary, even by listening to his smooth masculine voice on the phone made her want to be near him.

Though, everything in her life couldn't agree with wanting to be with him seeing that only hurt would come from it. Then, there was his son that which he had yet to see, and Karin knew that he had every right to see him--the only problem was Yoshiro's protection. He was so much like him, even a year old and he already wanted to learn about the world outside. A smile came to her face as she stepped on the gas; Yoshiro was growing up mentally rather quickly and she knew that he would be just as smart as his father.

For hours Karin kept returning to the same opinion, trying to reason with herself to allow father and son to form a bond before it would be too late. For years now, since the early stages of middle school she had seen many of her classmates having the strained relationship with their parents; not that hers with her father could be counted as perfect either. What would happen when Yoshiro reached that age? Being lonely without a father figure, not knowing that the man he would see randomly in papers was his father; did she want that for him? Another sigh escaped her lips, it wouldn't be right to risk his safety and it wasn't right to keep him away from getting to know his father.

The doorman never questioned Karin again since the first time that which she had entered the building, she knew that he was afraid of Toushiro and that kept him silent all the time. The elevator seemed rather slow, every time it came to visiting him each limb on Karin's body only seemed to excite themselves more and more because it was like they were used to the electrifying touch from him. She knocked on the door, opening and closing her hand on her side as they trembled with excitement.

"About time--" Toushiro didn't finish his sentence as Karin threw herself at him.

She had been so needy, so desperate for his touch there was no time to think or rationalize anything in her head anymore. It seemed as though there was no time left with him, as if something bad would happen within the minutes or hours--all there was to do was to be with him and feel him so deep within her there wouldn't be a need to remember herself at all. Losing one's mind, body and soul into a border of nothingness made her feel secure and without worry.

"I need you." She whispered into his ear as she felt his hand brushing against her back.

"Why so needy? Is there some kind of rush?" He kissed her neck, licking her pulse and making her moan in pleasure.

"I--I don't…know." She kissed him not wanting to do foreplay tonight, just wanting to feel him. "J-just do it. I am about to go insane."

He said nothing, willingly accepting that she wasn't putting a fight tonight at all. He kissed her, nearly ripping her clothes away from her body so that he could feel the soft skin with his hands. Even though this type of behaviour was so odd, but it wasn't time to worry about it at all. Within the minutes, he laid on top of her and she was digging her nails on his back. The cool air coming from the other room did nothing, their bodies were sweaty and growing warmer.

"Toushiro…" She moaned his name while pushing herself more, wanting to forget herself completely with the pleasure that he could only satisfy because it was like her body had been made just for him.

The night grew long, the dark sky stayed for hours until dawn appeared softly on the pastel coloured sky above. The wind had grown stronger over the night, the soft black curtains bellowed with the breeze and the room had turned slightly cold. Toushiro turned as his eyes flew open, last night seemed still to be out of his mind as he turned and found the bed empty. The clock read simply 9:10, the soft music played in the background and he got up.

Not a trace of Karin had been left behind, she was rather peculiar about raiding the entire house to find her things before leaving. She was a strange lover indeed, but it wasn't that what he wanted to worry about at the moment as he pulled on a pair of sweats and opened the door to his room. The entire apartment was empty, not a trace of her having ever set foot on it the night before--though why had the television being left on?

His steps were soft, almost like they didn't exist as he approached his living room carefully while pulling out the katana that hung on the wall in the hall. Not a sound it made either, the finest metal shinned relentlessly with the soft light and looking deadly as he continued to approach. Heart beat so fast, almost exhilarating as the cold metal was present on his hands and his movements were almost silent.

"Ah, Shiro!" Momo appeared out of the guest bathroom.

All air on his lungs left, the sword fell against the tiled floor and its clatter resounded across the room and every part of his body screamed out in fury. There was no way in hell that anyone would find him like this, no one. All of his friends believed he lived so far away from Karakura, others thought he lived in the shabby parts of Rukongai, and no one knew about his apartment here at all.

"What the hell are you doing here?" His voice was menacingly, his eyes turning darker turquoise and anger rushed into every single blood cell he had.

Momo pouted, blinking rapidly at him as tears seemed to form themselves in her soft eyes. "I came to visit you, but it seems that you don't want me here?"

"How long have you been _here_?" He strained to keep his voice calm, but it wasn't working well as her pout turned to a frown.

"You git, making your future wife worry is getting tiring." She stated, folding her arms across her chest to look threatening. "Why? Worried you were doing something bad."

At least she wasn't going to stand there and accuse him, though he was now glad that Karin wasn't in the apartment or the building at all.

"What do you want from me now? And, how did you find this place?" Toushiro snatched the t-shirt that was laying on the small couch and pulled it on.

"None of your business, why didn't you tell me about this place?" She changed moods quickly--another reason why he hated her. "Actually, my stuff is getting moved here during the day."

His back stiffen at that comment. Wait, what the hell was she deciding all of that suddenly? He hated her, hated her more then hating his father altogether--though he hated both of them in equal grounds.

"Don't. Please just don't." Toushiro was frustrated with her. "Hinamori, get the hell out of my house right now."

"You know, I was thinking that the colour should be changed into a soft lilac." She wasn't paying any particular attention to him, the house looked so horrid with the dark colours. "And, some of the junk you keep here needs to be sold off. I mean--"

He didn't have patience with a person like her, none. He picked up her bag that was on the little study table and pulled her by the elbow. No, there was no way that she would come here and claimed rights to change everything.

"Get out! Don't come back Hinamori, or I'll swear--" She slapped him, hard. He glared at her, murder screaming out of his body as his free hand trembled with wanting to kill her right then.

"You fucking bastard! Don't speak to me like that, never!" Momo hissed at Toushiro. "Are you going to tell me?! Or, do you want me to stand here and continue to scream at you!"

"I don't know what you're talking about?" He really wasn't the type to yell.

"Don't act so stupidly like that. I saw her, I saw her!" Was she finally going crazy? He really didn't care one way or another. "I saw her come out of this room, I know now. Fine, have it your way. I'm going to find out, and when I do, she'll be finished for good." With that, she ran out of the room and left.

+…

* * *

_Nya! *ducks for cover* My deepest apologies for not updating soon at all. Tch, had to endure two hellish weeks of exams, my grades lowered in some, had to do a presentation yesterday, the guy I like didn't go to school yesterday, finally got my vacation (wait, it's not even that 'cos I have to prepare a speech and write this bloody paper). So, all in all--my week was just horrid. Nya! On with this...**Bleeding Box:**_

_+HOSHItoNORAINU: 'hope you enjoyed the chapter. Yes, Momo bashing is so bloody fun to do. Though, I am making her to be a total bitch in my story 'cos I felt like it lol. Thanks for the review!'_

_+Moon Of Jupiter: 'I'll for you to explain about my story being scary? I've been intrigued to know lol. I know, I don't want for Karin to suffer this way, but the story would get ruined if she just wanted to attach herself so dependently over Toushiro. After all, she likes to be independent and without having to be supported by a man. And, thank you for the review as well!'_

_+Le Rukia: 'Aw, your reviews are always so great to read. It helps a lot that you give out your opinion. Haha--I try to keep the humour going, though sometimes I fail miserably at trying to make it funny--don't know why. Oh well! Anyways, yeah I'm going to add more Ichi/Rukia, Ren/Tats, and the other couples that I have on here. And, I have yet to reveal who Ishida is married to! Thanks for the review, as well!'_

_+Whitecloud1: 'Thank you, I try my best to work it out that way. And, I'm trying to dump Momo away, but she just gives me this inspiration to continue making her look like a complete psycho! I don't even know why, but I just can't stand her at all. Nya! Thanks, exams are horrid and evil! Thank you for the review!'_

_+nejisakura: 'Thank you for the review, here's your update. Hopefully you enjoyed it!'_

_+xxxChaosQueenxxx : 'Haha, sure! I had to change from my previous story. There's this thrill about how Karin and Toushiro almost seem like they want to accept their feelings, but they don't truly show it on the outside. So, I want to keep that, but with the situation now--um I don't know what will happen. Thank you for reviewing!'_

_+Panther X: 'Aw, thank you! I would give you a hug, but virtually it just doesn't feel the gratitude I have at the moment. Sighs, but I'll admit that it was indeed epic. I always imagined that he would make a great detective, it was just always the image I had of him if he were human on Bleach lol! Thanks for reviewing!'_

_+.StReEtAnGeL.: 'Sorry for leaving you in the suspense like that--it just happen without meaning to. Hopefully this chapter doesn't leave you like that--sighs! I hope you like The Bridge of Silence. Don't worry, I update really late too so you don't have to worry! Thanks for reviewing though!'_

_+yonne1104: 'Ah, yes. I thought that this time around I would play nice with Inoue, though in the manga she's really becoming annoying for me. And no, I wanted to give her a life other then being so devoted to Ichigo like in the manga. Ugh! So, hopefully her role is better in this story 'cos I know that if people painted her to be grieving over Ichigo--that surely doesn't make me want to like her at all. And, thank you for reviewing!'_

_*Breaths!* Wow...keep the reviews coming! I love answering people and thanking them 'cos without them a story wouldn't have a meaning at all. Sorry if those who alerted and favoured the story didn't make it to the list but reviews help to visualize what you want to read. I know that this chapter was rather long (I do own those who read it after not updating it sooner! Sorry guys!) and that a lot of things happen. Some may even be confused as to what the hell I am doing with the strange situations, but don't panic 'cos they'll be cleared up on the up coming chapters. LE GASP! Momo saw Karin, but didn't see who really was. And, moving in with Toushiro? WTF! She's a bossy, whiny bitch. Totally, I know that 'cos I am making her that way. To Momo's fans, those who feel sorry for her and all of that rubbish sorry...if you don't like it then really there's nothing to be done about it 'cos I don't generally like to work with their exact original personalities and everything like that. So, that's all I have to say on that. Chapter 5 is on the works as we speak, I'll try to update at least 3 chapters while on break, but can't promise it! Okay, I think this is getting long but thanks for reading. Like it? Review it. Hate it? Well that's too bad, maybe next time. No flames 'cos I can't afford to buy an extinguisher! Author bashing--well please take it somewhere else, kindly. Harsh criticism, don't need it--really I get that already--a lot too. Ja!- **bleedingxinxspace**_


	5. Song For The Broken

**Disclaimer:** Don't own any Bleach characters! Since there's a lack of a witty remark--I'll leave it for someone to think of it! On with the chapter!

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

"_Proportion is almost impossible to human beings. There is no one who does not exaggerate."_

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

…+

_The sky had turned from bright blue to a dusky blue, thick grey clouds hung over the city as the rain poured endlessly and it looked rather depressing as she stared out the window. The entire house was having fun, the arrival of Kuchiki Byakuya always caused an uproar among the famous Senbonzakura apartment buildings because he was so famous. Karin looked down at her son, Yoshiro always smiled so softly as he would put his tiny palm on her cheek. _

_Yoshiro was growing more and more, she was aware that he would end up being such a good looking young man like his father in the future. Except, there didn't seem a future that which included Toushiro and her as a couple at all, her son would grow up without a father or perhaps picking up a dislike for him. Would there exist any civility between the two? They were so alike in so many ways, each day Yoshiro seemed to be gaining more experience regarding the outside world; always wanting to look a books that didn't have pictures on them, pointing at random objects for no reason. _

"_Kaasan…Kaasan." Yoshiro touched Karin's cheek, smiling as he kept on repeating the same word. _

_She simply smiled, it was better because being strong for him was much better since it was what he needed to see. The door opened to the small room, the tall man with bright orange hair smiled at her. _

"_Hiding as always, Karin?" Ichigo smiled at his younger sister. _

"_Don't care so much about social events, we've been thru this point before." She looked at her brother. "Welcome home, Ichi-nii." _

_Ichigo smirked simply, taking his nephew away from her hands and spinning him around in the air. "You're getting big, Yoshiro." _

_She simply watched, trying so hard to picture everything else differently--though it only returned to the happy home with her and Toushiro, Yoshiro and other children in the background. Why was it so hard to move on, knowing that staying with Toushiro would only continue to hurt more and more. The complicate problem, it continued to revolve in circles. _

+…

+--Song For The Broken--+

The rain poured and poured, the blanket that covered most of the world from his range of view and it only looked so depress like that. The movers continuously walked in and out of his apartment, the many boxes had already being packed on the corner of his living room--they looked like death to him. Why had Momo decided to do really stupid things like moving in with him? Wasn't it enough that he had to be tortured by her in the near future as his wife?

The world was cruel, so unfair to him for so many years he would wonder aimlessly if the universe itself was against him. In only three weeks the wedding was going to take place, everyone seemed so eager over it--though slowly his father seemed to continue restless over it. Just the previous week he had spoken with him, there was something odd about him--as if he was regretting something. At the moment, Toushiro didn't want to think about his father and his ideals, for one thing there was nothing to concern himself over it when he was being made to marry an undesirable woman.

"Hitsugaya-sama?" A man with dark hair spoke.

"Yes, what is it?" He replied nonchalantly, not bothering to tear his gaze from the window.

"All of the things have been moved, is there anything else you need?" The man asked, clearly it seemed that it was bad taking the shift today.

"Has my other stuff being taken to the other place across town?" This time, he bothered to turn and stared at the young man.

"Yes, everything is set as you wished. Though, the place is rather difficult to get around to." The young man scratched his chin and smirked. "Make everything complicated, don't you?"

Toushiro simply smirked, even if the place was rather dodgy and just out of his own world, it was the only way that he could avoid Momo. There was no way in hell that he would stand living with her, knowing that they would be married was enough for a lifetime.

"If it's to avoid her, I'll take large measures to move as far away as I can." He stated, sticking his left hand on his pocket. "The money will be transferred to your account as always, so don't be surprised when you see the sum added to it."

"You over pay me, that's something that seems confusing about you Hitsugaya men." The man turned to leave, but stopped before walking out the door. "Maybe you two are alike, maybe you're better at this charade and more sincere; I'm sure you'll do the right thing in the end."

There was absolutely no guarantee that there could be anything done right in the end, it was a farfetched thing now that Momo found herself finding him and he didn't particularly like that. Karin hadn't called in an entire week, which worried him even if it was obvious that the last night he had spent with her, she had acted strange. Obviously, he had known about her older brother arriving back to Japan after an entire month spent in England doing business. After all, having to take care of three children seemed hard.

"Shiro, I didn't think that you would wake up early?" Momo entered the apartment. Fighting the urge not to roll his eyes, Toushiro gazed deeply into the rain trying to find something to occupy his brain with.

"As if I had a choice, there's some errands I have to take care." He mentioned it, even though he wasn't going to arrive tonight at all. There was no need to fake anything, though it was easier to put up a mask in front of her because of how oblivious she was.

"My Shiro!" She attempted to hug him, but he dodged her while fixing his dress shirt firmly. "Why are you avoiding me?"

The answer was so long that it would only waste his breath to explain it, plus her brain wouldn't be able to process it thoroughly as he wished. Simply, he sighed softly picking up his car keys and the light sweater on the chair.

"Don't stay up to wait. Don't attempt to do something like that--again." His tone was soft again, but definitely a dangerous message laid on that tone alone.

"No! Where are you going? Going to see that--that bitch again?!" She spat, grabbing his arm and digging her nails on his flesh.

"Let go, now!" He hissed at her, trying hard not to hit her. Obviously, Toushiro held a lot of norms in his life and never hitting a woman was one of them; except that Momo was pushing it too far. "Besides, I don't know what the hell are you talking about."

She glared at him, chest rising rapidly as her breath was shallow. The irises widened, the brown colour of her eyes turned darker and a low growl escaped her lips.

"You bloody bastard! Don't lie to me at all, never lie!" She yelled, sinking her nails deeper and Toushiro knew that it would leave a mark. "You know damn well what I saw, and don't pretend to act like a fucking innocent priest. Tell me, do you think I go around and fuck any guy I see?"

That made him laugh, but at the moment he found it rather hypocritical coming from her mouth. If she only knew, if she only knew that he had seen her so many times lip locking with random guys at clubs, that he had seen her holding hands with other men and allowing them to touch her in various ways. Though, it wouldn't matter because he didn't care for her and wished to get rid of her.

"Accusing me isn't going to get anywhere, so let me go." He grabbed her wrist, applying pressure on her nerve and making her wince. "You're doing the things that I don't want to see at all. Moving in like its alright, invading my privacy just because you feel like it and trying to act like the possessive woman."

"We're getting married, there's nothing to argue against that." She crossed her arms and began to pace. Her red heels clacked against the tiled floor. "Are you going to tell me who that woman was?"

"If only I knew what you were talking about." He muttered. That was one thing about being a Hitsugaya, they easily could simply get himself out of situations because people could never figure them out.

"You know damn well, stop hiding!" She stated, glaring at him. "Stop telling me lies, just stop it!"

"I still don't know what you're talking about." He muttered as if annoyed, his eyes had long ago narrowed since her arrival. "There's no time in the day to waste it on arguing with an insolent child."

"I hate you!" She hissed under her breath, her expression betraying her feelings for him.

There was no time in the day to deal with anyone at all, it was so unreasonable trying to play this game with her like that. So, this time he didn't answer and turned to leave because there was time that was being lost. Before Hinamori had any time to react, Toushiro ran off down the flight of stairs instead of the elevator and quickly ran down to the parking lot.

At least, she hadn't gone to get the security films because it would cause trouble but what else could he do? Running away, hiding and pretending wouldn't lead anywhere good; plus it was growing weary to continue the charade longer then it was necessary. The roads were sleek as his shiny blue car sped down the street, the apartment disappeared thru the mirror with the curtain of rain. Absolutely nothing would stop him from seeing Karin, if he only knew where she was since she didn't even bother to answer her phone anymore.

Though, he felt like something odd had happen since the last time he had seen her. The way she had acted, giving herself to him without arguing or without bad mouthing at him; it wasn't normal coming from Karin at all. Exactly, what the hell was going on?

…+

"Aren't going to work?" Ichigo asked at his young sister, seeing the fleeting expression on her face.

"Not today, I don't feel like it." Karin answered, her eyes staring out into the rain hoping for her mind to just simply be washed away. "The office will take the calls, the appointments and everything else is being done by my workers."

Ichigo didn't understand what was wrong with her at all, one minute she was the ruthless little sister and the other she was the lost maiden--it was just confusing. In this world existed many things that worried people, though he knew well that none of those things ever worried Karin at all; she would just brush them away and never look back upon them. Though, he was beginning to doubt his judgement and opinions because the look on her face was just so strange; one that reminded him of a look that Rukia had gotten once.

Yoshiro laid asleep on the futon that was set on the floor, his sleeping face was gentle and a little frown was placed upon it. The dark locks were much like his sisters, there were a lot of Kurosaki traits on him--but it was his eyes that made him wonder so much. Why wouldn't she go out to find the father? It would be rare of course, with the dozen of million guys living in Japan alone, it would be a difficult search.

"What's going on? It isn't like you to worry like this. To become so vacant and forget work." He pressed the matter outside of his thoughts, wanting to find a reason behind her expression.

She wanted to accept it herself, wanting to feel like there was a purpose on chasing something that would never happen. For a week now, for an entire week the process of thinking had halted into thoughts of Toushiro. She had seen the girl enter the hall, stepping out of the elevator with such elegance and grace it was actually surprising to have seen Hinamori Momo up close like that. Fearing her would never happen, Karin could easily deal with a spoiled bitchy princess, plus, Toushiro's love only belonged truly to her and not Hinamori.

Just recently, she had meet with Yourichi and found out about things that were hard to understand…

_She sat silently on the corner of the place, tracing the rim of the old cup absentmindedly waiting for the woman to arrive any day soon. The atmosphere in the place was dim, silent almost as the soft music played on the background, the gentle whispers of the people and the quiet atmosphere was suffocating. The day was slowly darkening, soon she wanted to go visit Toushiro at his apartment because there were things that needed to be discussed before tomorrow. _

"_My, my…Karin-chan." The soothing voice of Yourichi came suddenly. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting long."_

"_Whatever. I need your help on something, if you are willing to do it." She looked at the tanned woman, who simply held a grin on her face. Her cat-like eyes were always so vivid, a spark of interest was always present. _

"_Alright, what is it that you want?" The woman sat down on the opposite side, grinning widely again. _

_She had thought briefly about that part--though there were many things in this world that which she wanted but couldn't get. What was there to do now? _

"_I need you to get information about Hinamori Momo." Karin spoke clearly, her eyes staring at Yourichi's with intensity. "Hinamori is perhaps going to get into my tracks soon, there's this feeling and I know that I can't be wrong."_

_Yourichi sighed, knowing well that this was the one thing that would eventually come up sometime. Hinamori Momo was already chasing Karin's ghost, having tracked down Toushiro already seemed so easy; so how long would it be until she would find Karin? Yourichi wasn't about to wait for that day, putting the life of Karin and Yoshiro in danger wouldn't do any good at all--perhaps that would break Hitsugaya Toushiro to pieces. _

"_Watching out is the best that I can tell you at the moment." She expressed, looking at her godchild and trying to reason with her. "Hinamori is much more sharper then she seems, a little bit on the Rapunzel thinking side, but enough thinking going on. She would go to any length to have Hitsugaya Toushiro in her hands, controlling him and getting a hold of all the power he has. I sure hope that you were aware of how highly dangerous his father is." _

_She shook her head, there was only some of the stuff on the surface that which she was aware off, but not the entire thing. This made Yourichi sigh heavily. _

"_Half the government of Japan fears Hitsugaya Ryo, not because he's bad, but because without him there wouldn't be important homeland security in parliament or anything like that." Karin held a confused expression. "Toushiro-kun is much more richer then you think, and since the Hinamori family wants him to marry their daughter--let just say the union will be a rather disastrous one. They don't care about him or the happiness of their daughter, well neither does she care for Toushiro-kun. That family is bad news, they're practically wanting the power of Ryo just to take over Japan. I'm not even supposed to tell you that, but they already are on the move of trying to kill Toushiro after he marries Momo." _

_As if Karin wasn't pallid enough, the little colour she had drained out and her hands turned cold. So, Hinamori Momo was just the little pawn on the board, while her parents were the ones chasing to kill the King and check mate the entire game. That wouldn't be true, it couldn't even be because they were willing to risk the life of Momo just to gain some type of power. A gasp escaped her lips, trembling in fear and worry over the man that was far too powerful for his own good. _

"_W-what are you trying to tell me?" Her voice was strained, panic surging on her blood and making her become so fearful. There hadn't been a time in which she had feared no one, but it was different now. _

"_I'm saying--that you need to finish this." Yourichi's tone was even more serious, her cat-like eyes glowed with the lights of the shop. "If you continue like this, many more lives will be in danger. Putting your life in danger puts your brother and Rukia-chan in danger as well, and that would also drag in the Kuchiki business. A lot of people are in danger because of this, that is why I am doing everything I can to put the Hinamori family in jail." _

"_Stop seeing him?" _

"_Yes, stop seeing him before you fall in much more deeper." Yourichi stood up this time, not bothering to have drunk her tea at all. "I'm sorry, but it is the only way. I know where his apartment is at, I'll keep my tabs just for one day on you and him while you finish it. Don't tell him anything." _

Why? Why did it have to hurt so much spending one last night with him? Nothing had prepared Karin for such a good bye at all--practically it wasn't even one at all. Every single touch from him meant the entire world--why hadn't she said anything to him regarding how she felt? Without even knowing anything, her heart had carved itself and only agony would wait itself to be spilled openly without shame at all.

Leaving him was such a wrong choice, in his arms existed this unknown safety that couldn't be found anywhere else. Though, what would happen in three weeks? Her eyes averted towards their sleeping son, Yoshiro who would never get to see his father if he were to die in a matter of three weeks. The unknown pain started to grow tenfold, almost suffocating her already painful heart.

"Why?" Her voice croaked, a sob was threatening to come.

"Karin?!" Ichigo rushed to her side. She clung onto him; the lone flower had finally been berated down by the strong wind.

She sobbed, she sobbed like she had never done in the past after promising after their mother's dead to never cry again in her life. No, crying was for the weak and those who didn't know how to deal with their hearts, but she felt beaten and broken. Toushiro might die, he would never be allowed to see his son and Yoshiro would never be allowed to have seen his father. Was it a fair world now?

What did it mean to live fairly? The purpose of understand the good and the bad things in life, to walk upon the stretched path of Fait that only lead to ruin--those were the main points of understanding anything at all. The meaning of understanding was nothing, nothing compare to the heartbreak that Karin felt at the moment as she held onto her brother so tightly to stay above in the ground and not sink it.

The rug had been pulled from her under her feet, only watching the people go by without even caring about the pain and agony that was painted so vividly in her pallid face. Ichigo didn't know why, but there was a feeling that perhaps he should do something and find what had caused for his younger sister to be broken down merely like this. No one would believe it though--the ruthless woman who depended on no one, one who didn't hold much into the public opinion and the one that stood alone without anyone's help. What had happened?

"Ichi-nii…" She cried, cried and cried for hours.

The rainy sky had turned much more gloomier, much more sadder then it needed to be at the moment as Ichigo held onto his young sister. Who had caused her such pain? There was no one in the world that would make her cry, not a scratch, a fall, a hit…nothing. Had she gone to find the man, the father of the child? Of course not, Karin never depended on no one and was doing fine as a single mother; though there would be a chance that she just might've.

"Ichigo? What's going on?" Rukia entered the apartment, carrying the small baby in her arms and the two small boys trailing behind her.

He turned to look at his wife, unsure as to how to explain to her about Karin as she had now fallen asleep in his arms. Her amethyst eyes widened, then returnedo normal as a confused expression had suddenly appeared on Rukia's face. Of course, everyone would be shock to see a broken Kurosaki Karin, much to her dismay because people did deserve to have feelings.

"I'm not sure either, but there's one person that which I need to call and find out what the hell is going on." He sat Karin on the couch, shrugging off his suit jacket and throwing it against her sleep body. "Koji, Kazuki and little Amaya."

"Otousan!" The two little boys smiled and ran up to him.

Rukia didn't want to understand, seeing Karin cry had never happened in the past at all but now she laid asleep looking rather broken. There were a lot of things that worried her, for one, her husband often spent time in another country and was often in the line of fire because of how greedy people wanted his kind of power, for two, she was the sister of Kuchiki Byakuya and both were in danger as well, and for the final, Karin was her sister-in-law.

"I don't understand." Rukia stared at her husband, trying to find a bit of sense. Karin wasn't a normal girl who would cry easily over something, perhaps such behaviour could come from her other twin, but Rukia knew better then to compare the two.

"Neither do I, but I get a feeling that this is something that can only lead to a bad road." Ichigo held onto his two sons, stroking their hair and looking at Rukia. "We're going to see your brother today, I have to talk with Urahara later and try to find out what exactly is going on."

She nodded, agreeing that something strange was really going on. Even her sister, Hisana, had called upon her to see if she was alright--despite the fact that Hisana called nearly everyday just to check up on her. Byakuya-niisama had also called her--now the call from him was rare since he was oftentimes busy with work, but Hisana and Byakuya weren't married for nothing. What was going on though?

+…

The rain had lessened, but it continued to pour still for the straight 3rd day in a row and Toushiro was getting tired of seeing it. Karin had turned off her phone, making that impossible to speak with her as he stood in his shabby apartment, and neither was she answering at work. Had something happen to make her not want to see him for almost a week? Of course, her brother would probably scold her and everything, but he wouldn't be able to stop his sister from seeing him--right?

"Damn it!" He exclaimed, dropping down on his floor and running a desperate hand thru his mop of white hair. He knew now though that having fallen in love with the Kurosaki girl would make him feel this way, feel like everything in the world didn't mean anything without her around at all, and also there existed this fearful feeling that soon everything might be lost.

His turquoise eyes stared dimly at the room, trying so hard not to think and worry at the same time except it prove to be a difficult task. Time moved slowly, the phone vibrated silently a on his pocket while playing the silly tone but deciding it was better to ignore it, mind becoming so lost as his heart began to ache silently against his chest. Had this been the feeling of losing your true love?

Though, what did it mean to have a true love? To think of them so fiercely it hurt? Seeing their faces everywhere you went? True love seemed so made up, a fantasy simply existing on the children's stories where the girl finds her prince, they married and live happily ever after. Though, in real life everyone knew that there wasn't anything such as happily ever after, the very perfect love that would never decimate throughout time at all. Suddenly, the theme song that which was the only one on his phone went off.

"Moshi-moshi?" He answered, trying to find a comfort on the voice that would respond from the other end.

"_Toushiro…I'm sorry."_ Karin sounded so empty, so strange that it was actually impossible to really tell if she was actually Karin. _"I-I don't want to see you anymore. Its over, done, finish--and there's no chance of ever getting me back at all. I'm done chasing, I'm done looking for something to make me feel important and sure about you. Being stuck as the third-wheel can't continue like this, not when--my heart belongs to another man."_

"What are you trying to say?" Toushiro stared at his empty house and tried to reason, though at the moment reason was long gone. "You-you can't just leave me like this Karin. What about our son?"

"_There's not a single part for you in my life, none."_ Karin sounded so cold, so harsh as he flinched at her words. _"Don't come looking for me anymore, just stop. Everyone's right, chasing after you is like chasing for a nightmare. Unwanted, painful and fearful. I-I really h-hate you!" _

With that, the dial tone continued to beep at him as his hand dropped the phone on the floor. The darkness in the room swallowing Toushiro completely, mind so numb there was absolutely no motor motion of limbs at all--chasing a nightmare? Truly, he hadn't done anything to be considered a nightmare at all, except that coming from her felt so real as he squeezed his hands close, tightly. Every single part of his heart was screaming at him, it wanted out and to change into a more healthy emotional body unlike his numb one.

One minute there was a tiny hope that she had been so busy to call, but never such an anguishing choice like that at all. In life, tears weren't worth anything at all because it brought the unwanted sympathy, the unwanted happiness from others and the nice words that really didn't do anything. He wanted to claw himself, remove every single piece of flesh and muscle in order to feel whole--everything was so empty inside though.

The usual spark of hope, strength, courage and intelligence vanished suddenly like the candle flame being blown away by the fierce wind. Nothing would prepare anyone for such loss, for such heartache and agony that Toushiro no longer knew what to think at all. Only the pounding feeling at his stomach, the shattering pieces of his heart falling like a river and his eyes losing focus on the world.

"Karin…" Her name escaped his lips, a panging loss threatening to reduce him to mere tears. No, tears wouldn't exist anymore because they only seemed worse for the pain. Her words continued to dance in his head, mocking his stupidity and want at the same time, laughing at how miserable he was at the moment.

The silence consumed the entire room, burying it so deep it looked like a lonely funeral, head bowed down on the knee, heart echoing with no emotion and the pain dancing beautifully while laughing. A dark laugh escaped his lips, the pain was mocking him so greatly it was actually amusing. How many people did he hurt over the years?

Disappointing his father, his mother unwilling to take him, his friends only pretending to be friends, a girl who didn't love him nor he loved her--was there hope to make it right? Of course, there was none. The girl he loved so dearly wouldn't want him back, after all, she just had dumped him so harshly like that. Toushiro punched the floor, cracking the tanami and making his knuckles bleed; though that went unnoticed because he couldn't feel the pain there. What he would give to have Karin back, to marry her and have her for the rest of their lives. That wouldn't be enough though, if he gave his power and every single penny he owned to his name--but what about his life?

What did it cost? His father wouldn't give a damn if he lived or died, Hinamori would only want to be married to him before dying just so she would get his money--though there was Yoshiro. His only son who would grow up without a father, without having his own guidance and teachings, he would grow alone and only with the care of another man that was not Toushiro. He didn't particularly fancied that, no man was allowed to claim Karin and her heart, along with his son because no man could be him.

"Karin!" He strangled a yell, trying so hard not to rush out and do something so stupid.

…+

Tears fell against her cheeks again, hearing his voice of want and fear wasn't so great at all. Karin wanted him, wanted to rush to him and kiss him; hold onto him so dearly and never let go. Yourichi had promise to fix it, she could fix it right? Hinamori Momo. Every single thought of her was filled with poison, the snake that threatened to bite her if Karin were to get too close. Her head was on the tiled floor of the bathroom, eyes stained with tears and her heart breaking still.

Why did it have to hurt so badly like this? People didn't go thru this, did they? Karin didn't know, neither did she wanted to know at the moment as she threw up once more while choking in tears. This was just as bad, telling him that she couldn't see him and that she hated him. It was for his own good though, maybe he would just disappear with the pain and would never return, never marry Momo and always live freely.

"_Karin…"_ The way that he would say her name, his voice so filled with want for her. Everything about him was so great. His great mind never failed to amaze her, his eyes held that expression of courage and strength, the smile was so radiant it could be told that he was truly happy with her around. Tears fell again, they were water falls and she was tired. She couldn't do this, she couldn't deal with a pain so excruciating that it would only lead to a much more broken road.

"Toushiro…Toushiro…" She sobbed, eyes fogging up as she raised her head to the lavatory and threw up again. Her head pounded, stomach felt like it was being torn apart, but the heart was the only one that which she could focus more.

Outside, Ichigo leaned against the wall and tried not to become so enraged. So, Hitsugaya Toushiro was the cause of this. The child prodigy, the soon to be graduate, the one that was going to marry Hinamori Momo in three weeks--the man that which he knew at once was the father of his nephew. That bastard, despite the fact that he should be angry that his sister was seeing him, that had nothing to do with the reason as to why she was willing to stick up with him like that.

Everyone had learned long ago about their engagement. Was Karin unaware? Of course not, it would be stupid to be someone to not know about the engagement; even those who lived in the mountains were aware of it--so why did Karin decided to see him? So, had they broken up? Did Toushiro already felt like there was nothing more to do but break Karin's heart? Of course, what the hell did Hitsugaya Toushiro care about his sister. He was probably off having a good time with that Hinamori girl, probably whispering loving words to her and caressing her as if Karin had never existed.

"Fucking bastard, I'll kill him." He pushed himself away from the wall. No one was allowed to hurt neither of his two young sister, no one. Even if he was so powerful and had money, Ichigo held a better ground since he actually did business for Hitsugaya Ryo, his brother-in-law was Kuchiki Byakuya, his father held power as well, and he had among his other connections people from government.

Ichigo was going to kill him for sure.

+…

The office sat dark, the computer only lit the cubicle as mysterious eyes stared at the picture in the screen. So, Hinamori Momo was that powerful, but that didn't matter at the moment as Urahara tapped vastly across the computer screen. Surely, she would be done for good with a little planting of evidence right into the email of the powerful Hitsugaya Ryo-sama. A devious smile spread across his face, the horrid stripped hat hiding his true intentions and motives. Everyone would soon know, Hitsugaya Toushiro didn't deserve such dreadful fate at all, not one where he would live Kurosaki Karin alone along with their son.

Right, of course he was well up to date with everything, after all, Isshin was such a loudmouthed idiot sometimes it wasn't even hard to get any juicy details regarding the Kurosaki children. Though, Urahara knew better then to spread any rumours that were real like that, of course, he had more decency then that because he was dealing with powerful families--one being Kurosaki Ichigo and his wife Rukia, sister of _the_ Kuchiki Byakuya. No one would mess with the stoic man's family, not even the most powerful man in the entire world, and surely, Hinamori Jun couldn't possibly stand up to him either.

"So, it rolls." He smiled, pressing the 'enter' key and sending the exposing email. Surely, keeping a very close eye on the enemy was much more easier said then done, she was highly aware of the things surrounding her. So, finding her in rather…err…compromising positions with other men was very hard. Breaking into security systems in distinctive hotels was hard, but without his precious wife Yourichi--the job was much more easier.

"Finally, about damn time." She yawned, stretched out of the shadows and walking up to the computer. "So, why in the hell did we come all the way to Gin's office building just to do this stupid thing--remind me again?"

"Why, my dear, the IP of course." He grinned, eyes still glued into the computer. "Gin thought it would be a good--err--idea because he's helping dear old Sosuke to seek what he wants."

She rolled her eyes, scoffing in the process. "Sure, having that bastard marry the little whore would make it much better."

"Nah, don't think so." Urahara pulled out more of his advanced technological stuff to erase every single thing from the computer. Cleaning out every inch of evidence was very important. "Aizen just wants to marry before running out of time, he's not exactly young as we all know. Then again, Hinamori does seem a suitable choice for him in many ways."

"Ha, just so he can play with her all he wants? Sadistic bastard, but what the hell." Yourichi shrugged, waiting for the computer to be turned off. "You know, maybe you should just replace it. I'm sure that Gin won't mind, after all, he doesn't particularly care about dirty business."

The blond man knew that, but what would be the thrill of doing something like that? Of course, spying and breaking into faulty places was fun, much more fun when both already worked for that side of the government. He smiled as the computer flashed and was turned off, the monitor was turned off and the two grabbed their things.

"One way or another, I'm sure someone is bound to find out what we do." He yawned. "I just hope that things haven't ended up too badly. Karin-chan wouldn't be the same if she were to end it, you did tell her to cool it down--right?"

She stopped half way out of the door. Shit, what had she done? "Fucking idiot! I thought you told me to give her clear orders to end it? Agh, damn it Kisuke!"

"My, my…this is not going to dwell up good on my record book. I already have Ichigo-san on my trail, mainly because he seems to be rather sharper then I believed." He muttered, scratching his chin and cursing inwardly. "Well, you'll have to fix it tomorrow then because hopefully things haven't suddenly broken into pieces."

"Idiot, I swear I don't even know why in the hell I married you." Yourichi shut the door and the two continued down the hall. "Oh, right. The young and reckless thing of course. Hopefully Karin-chan hasn't listen to me yet."

"You better hope, wouldn't want to see a broken hearted young girl and young man."

The night was dark, gloomy as the rain had finally turned to mist and the thick clouds had moved on. The few blinking stars that managed to escape shinned down upon the ground, the moon was able to peek on and off. The city looked so sad, so silent as the echoing of two broken hearts seemed to travel across Karakura.

…+

"No!" She gasped in surprised as she stared at the stick. It couldn't be happening again, not after everything that had taken place during the day at all. Shocking, it was pure shock as she leaned against the sink and brought a hand to her stomach. A life was growing inside--why now? Fate really play dirty tricks.

"No, it can't be." The stick fell onto the floor, clattering across it and landing right besides the trash bin.

* * *

_Nya! I brought you a 5th chapter really fast, did I not? Phew--fingers are tired--nah not really. Well, still haven't started my bloody speech, but I will try to start on it tomorrow though. Erm, well on with this...**Bleeding Box:**_

_+Whitecloud1: 'I'm torturing Toushiro with her, but soon there won't be no more her or him together in a picture frame. I chose that colour 'cos I find it ghastly, horrid colour for a house and just not for Toushiro himself. Well, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thank you for reviewing!'_

_+realityfling18: 'Aw, thank you very much for the kind words. Hope that you are indeed enjoying this story. Of course, they are obvious things, but we can't have Toushiro knowing tha right away lol. Though, I think I torture him a lot, sighs...oh well though. Thank you for the review!'_

_+Moon Of Jupiter: 'Yeah, if you have read my previous work on The Bridge of Silence, then you would be aware that I don't like to really follow in character form. I like to show different sides to characters, not just maintain the ones that they originally have. Playing around is fun, you can make them more dynamic or less--exploring character forms that is lol. Well, Toushiro really isn't afraid of his father, they just have a bad relationship, but in reality his father isn't that bad. You'll see later on lol. And, thank you for clarifying lol. Also, I like to use their zanpaktous names just because it makes it less difficult to think up names out of the top of my head for things like that. Wow, lng review and you get a long response lol. Thank you for the review though!'_

_+xxxChaosQueenxxx: 'Going out of bounds with that girl--never really thought of her as sweet seeing how awful she actually treats Toushiro. He's trying to protect her, but at the same time she doesn't listen to him. So, thought that this role I gave her seemed more proper. Thank you for the review though!'_

_+Panther X: 'Aw, really? Wow, I'm really touched! *sniffs*. Of course, but I can't go with that kind of showdown at all. I have ideas as to how I want to end it, but well I'll keep that to myself 'cos they're on development. Though, rest to be sure that there'll be more chapters before it actually ends--obviously lol. Thank you for reviewing!'_

_+Le Rukia: '*sniffs*...your reviews always make me feel so appreciated!!! Thank you, thank you! Wow, you're actually like the first one ever to write the favourite lines on a review--its awesome! I would personally make a big cookie, wrap it myself and send it to you--sadly virtually that's impossible! Yourichi is my ultimate favourite woman in Bleach, well besides the others I like as well. Hahaha...couldn't have young Toushiro break down like that--not when anyone would want to practically kill her with that sword and get it over with. Oh, she did see her, but Hinamori is unware of who it actually is. And yes, he indeed is really good. Thank you for the review!!'_

_There you go...keep the reviews coming and I'll keep responding, thanking and answering them as always. Nya! So, a shocking chapter or not? I didn't want to make it all depressing, but come on--if the two of them loved each other so much then they should've said something to one another. Sighs, but I was kind of depressed as well--not getting into details--seriously not worth talking about at all. Anyways, what the hell was with the end? Yourichi and Kisuke do make mistakes people, so don't kill me for it lol. I love the two of them together! Ichigo and Rukia, and children make appearences! I have to get back with Renji and Tatsuki! And, what the hell is with Gin being on here? Um, well I'm going out of bounds and make him and Aizen not practically the bad guys, just the creepy ones lol. I want to try it out and see how it works! Like it? Review it! Hate it? Maybe next time. No flames--don't make money out of this to buy an extinguisher. Harsh criticism--no thanks, got enough of it. Until next chapter!- bleedingxinxspace_


	6. Interlude To Affliction

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Bleach or any of the characters on Bleach. Speeches are overrated, throw me a freaking bone here!! This is like a filler, contains a little of Ichigo/Rukia past stuff...needed a breaking from the storyline. On with the chapter!

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

"_I feel like a prisoner trapped inside your broken world_

_while I'm playing the victim again running in circles."_

-_88_

+---+

_Shock didn't even register at all, it didn't come and it was kind of strange for him. Really, shouldn't the information be shocking in the first place? Strange it was, so strange that he wasn't being pissed off and already out wanting to kill someone--that someone being Hitsugaya Toushiro. _

"_Fucking bastard…" Ichigo grumbled, resting his forehead on his hand. "What have you two been doing during the past two days anyways?" _

"_Interested on joining the quest, Ichigo-san?" Urahara fanned himself, always hiding behind that damned fan. _

"_Not interested, I have my own work to do." People sometimes were hard to really push away, especially the man before him. "How long have you known about my sister?" _

"_We've known ages ago, but if she didn't want to say anything then you shouldn't force her." Yourichi said, pushing herself away from the door frame. "This is bigger then anything else, not when you have the entire Japanese lives in danger. Don't jump and do something stupid Ichigo." _

_He knew that, after hearing such explanation from them, still though. Hitsugaya Toushiro was that powerful, a scary man in the future, but the Hinamori family was threatening on their own. He remember Byakuya say once that they were not to be taken lightly, the sharpness of Hinamori Jun was enough for the entire world to have. _

"_Agh, that's obvious. I don't have the power to do anything at all, but why my sister?" He wanted to know, to find a reason to understand completely the matter without losing any brain cells. _

"_She's in love, is that not a reason enough?" Yourichi sighed, completely defeated at how dense the boy really was. "I care for her, as her godmother, protecting her is my duty. Except that I wasn't expecting her to get so depressed over it, damn they really are in love with each other." The last part was more to herself. _

"_What the hell is that about?" Ichigo stood up this time, running a frustrated hand thru his orange locks and staring out into the night sky above him. _

"_Karin-chan is in love, that's all Ichigo-san." Urahara knew that talking too much would get them in trouble. "Come on now, leave because my store needs to close or else I'll have to suffer from a sleepless night." _

_Ichigo grimaced, seriously that man needed to stop talking like that because it was rather disturbing, plus, there was no need to hear any more of his sex life with Yourichi--a mental scarring moment would only await him with it. _

"_Whatever, you'll answer eventually Urahara. I know where you live!" He walked out into the night, wondering still over his sister. _

+…

+--Interlude To Affliction--+

Rukia stared at Karin, trying hard to hide the concern for her as she simply played with her food; despite how happy she acted for Yoshiro and hide it from everyone else it was evident. At the moment, she was glad that the baby was sleeping instead, watching this sight of his mother would leave him in pain as well. She sighed, Kazuki and Koji were both silent, they seemed highly aware of the sad aurora that hung over their aunt.

"Karin, you're going to be late for work." Rukia sighed again, looking at her sister-in-law. Karin simply looked up at her, glancing then to the watch on her wrist.

"Of course, late for work." Karin muttered bitterly, pushing herself away from the table.

Two days already had gone by, except that they felt longer then that. Rukia didn't understand it so well, even if Ichigo was sticking up his nose where it wasn't any of his business, but she understood also that he was worried over his little sister. She sighed in defeat as the door closed, Karin would get by in time, but somehow it was a doubtful future and perhaps one that wouldn't end well.

"Okaasan, where's Otousan?" Kazuki looked at his mother, glancing then at the empty spot where Ichigo usually sat at.

"He left early to visit someone, he'll be back." She reassured them, trying on her own to stay strong as well. The strangeness of how Karin's attitude affected everyone was evident, slightly scary because it was a heavy atmosphere each day.

"Ah, Otousan!" Koji got off his chair and ran to the door, which was being open. She smiled, Koji seemed to attach himself so much to Ichigo--after all they were alike in so many ways.

"Agh, Koji!" Ichigo's voice came, Kazuki was the next one to jump off his chair and run towards his father.

Ichigo entered the dinning room of his apartment, Rukia sat on the table with breakfast already served. He arrived just in time for it, which he really wanted to get to right now except that his two sons were already tugging him.

"Koji, Kazuki you're going to break your father in half." Rukia stood up and tried to pull the two boys away, but they were rather clingy today. "Sheesh, what is with you two today?"

Neither of them said anything, simply holding onto their father for dear life. Ichigo simply mused, his children's behaviour really was strange and weird, but he simply ruffled their hair and told them to back to eating their breakfast. At least, they had been born obedient without being told twice at all--well occasionally they would slip up.

"Did Karin leave already?" He asked, seeing that she would try to avoid crowds.

"Yes, she's still the same and I'm getting extremely worried." Rukia couldn't help it, there was something that could help her get better? Wasn't there?

"I know, I know you are." Ichigo sided with her on that, it was frustrating trying to do the impossible. "Kazuki, Koji--go set up the game and I'll be there in a few."

They loved videogames, he didn't want them to hear anymore then they already did everyday because they also loved Karin so much. The boys jumped happily in their chairs, rushing to the playroom--they were filled with so much energy. Ichigo smiled, then it vanished as he turned to look at his wife.

"Urahara isn't saying anything, definitely something is up." He recalled some of the brief conversation with him. "It seems that they underestimated Hinamori Jun, he's a dangerous man from what that weasel says and that the marriage between Hitsugaya Toushiro and Hinamori Momo is only a road to ruin."

Rukia spit out her coffee, literally, how in the hell did something like that happen in today's world? Surely, Karin had known all along how dangerous Toushiro really was, did she not? Of course, she understood that she had fallen in love without even meaning too…almost unwillingly. Love came in different forms, it came without a warning and took place without even caring about consequences at all. Such emotion caused so much pain though, looking at Karin reminded her about how lucky she had been to be loved dearly by Ichigo.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rukia's throat felt dry, but managed to ask.

"Not sure, but it can't be something good at all. Damn it, things just can't settle down at all." Ichigo grumbled, not even bothering to touch his breakfast. "Many lives are in danger, that's all I can bring myself to say because none of it is really clear at all."

Silence consumed the table suddenly, both were thinking carefully and trying to reason with everything that was surrounding them slowly and they were trying hard not to go crazy with everything. Danger approached them slowly, a ticking bomb waiting to explode patiently in a single moment and the things around them would crumble into pieces.

"Ichigo, you're not going to do anything stupid are you?" She suddenly broke the silence, looking carefully at him with her bright eyes. He shifted on his seat, grabbing the cup of coffee and talking a big gulp. "Oh God, Ichigo! Don't do anything stupid at all, are you that crazy?"

"Why does everyone think that I'm going to do something stupid? Thanks for all the faith you have on me, stupid midget." People just enjoyed jumping into conclusions, mainly his dear wife.

"Tch, stupid Strawberry! Sometimes I still wonder why in the hell did I even married you?" Rukia crossed her arms, glaring at back at those amber eyes that were captivating and warm at the same time.

He didn't respond at all, simply drowning on those amethyst pools that which had captured him entirely so long ago. Wait, wasn't he supposed to be plotting or something to help Karin out? Love played dirty tricks right on cue, a groan escaped his lips as he stood up abruptly and walked over to the window. A fight that was meant to never be won at all--despair really hit badly suddenly like that.

She stood up, walking towards him and touching his arm that hung on his side limply, as the other was pressed against the window. Fighting always came between them two, always trying to tear up the little happy world that which they had worked hard on. If it wasn't someone trying to come between the two of them, it was someone trying to ruin their families for no reason at all, or some other thing would suddenly come.

"Ichigo." She hugged him as if wanting to erase everything. His amazing scent reeled her in, mind became suddenly numb and nothing worried her anymore.

"I know, it is hard." He expressed, hugging her back and kissing the top of her head. "We've always have to fight, but never give up."

She chuckled softly, clearly the always arrogant side of him new what to say properly--it seemed just like yesterday that he stood in front of her brother fighting to be able to marry her.

…+

Eight years earlier…

The Kuchiki mansion stood silently on the outskirts of Karakura, away from the city and more into the mountains. The mansion of Hell, Satan awaited there for him and the sentence already seemed tapped to his chest, it burned a great deal with each step that which he took. Each single breath was like the last one, each beat of the heart slowly seemed to come rapidly still, and his head pounded with the rushing blood. Fear was never the one to be felt much, after all, with simple experiences he learned to never fear because it was a weak emotion that shouldn't be felt at all; he doubted that at the moment.

She walked silently besides him, gazing at his tall form; wind swept past them and it brushed against her skin. The wind to him was like a friend, his orange hair swayed softly against it and the light played with those amber eyes that burned so brightly with strength, the stripped school tie bellowed freely against him--how did someone like him deserved to be so good looking and strong? With each look, her breath was always taken away for unknown reasons even after she had proclaimed to hate him, to never fall in love with an arrogant fool; it proved to be wrong now.

"Shit!" He cursed loudly, each step becoming slower and slower now.

She continued to stare at him in awe, almost forgetting that in only a matter of minutes they would most likely be buried alive. Never in life did it felt so strong, her heart had been pulled so tightly against her rib cage that protected it. In elementary they couldn't stand each other, he always called her names because of her size and never really bothered to care for her, middle school went with just about the same since they actually didn't see each other much, but in high school.

Kurosaki Ichigo grew tall, strong, was the best Karate competitor, an amazing Kendo captain, smart and every girl's dream that which they couldn't get. Kuchiki Rukia, that's all she was in front of their eyes, one that didn't deserve anything because of how they were jealous of her, but he wanted her. Their first year had been an odd one, he protected her from all the girls that tried to beat her for no reason at all, even if she really didn't need his protection.

One thing lead to another, boy loved girl, girl loved boy. Rukia found herself falling in love without even meaning to, looking at him from afar and admiring him entirely; which she guessed that perhaps he knew it well. He would smile at her, only smile at her in a special way and opening up to her. Now, they were almost into their three year relationship, but they had hit something unexpected.

"Ichigo, please be reasonable." She whispered, nearing the gate of the mansion.

"Reasonable doesn't work well at the moment, now quit your whining or else I'll make you return." He didn't look at her, determination was high on his head. Rukia gave up, Ichigo knew what to do and always fixed things strangely enough.

The house was large, many rooms that were unused, it was silent as the two entered it and found all the workers missing; though they were unimportant at the moment. Ichigo knew where he would find Kuchiki Byakuya, his long legs moved accordingly down the long hall and to the large library at the end of it. He knew that the man overworked, only when his wife, Hisana, would demand him to stop and she would force him. Hisana was the only one that managed to move the stoic man, and Ichigo was actually glad that she found her sitting on the small couch.

"Rukia-chan? Kurosaki-san?" She stood up, a smile spread on her face and walked up to them.

Rukia reached for her sister's embrace, holding onto her tightly without wanting to face the consequences of what they were about to reveal together. Ichigo simply stood there, his amber eyes locked upon the man in the suit sitting on the large table with papers on his hands. Kuchiki Byakuya looked up, briefly, and stared at the two of them standing there.

"What do I own the visit from you, boy?" His tone was monotone voice sounded the same, nothing changed.

Ichigo stood tall, Byakuya pissed him off so badly due to how rudely he spoke to him for no reason at all. A doctor's son, was it not good enough? Obviously, nothing in the world was enough for Kuchiki Byakuya to fully take at all, only creating some kind of cold sheet on top of things seemed his talent. He didn't understand the man at all, confusing and completely demented perhaps, but never understood how he protected everything around him. Rukia, of course, spoke highly of him and then again who wouldn't do it? Even he found himself admiring him from time to time, a man with no fear at all, took everything as it came--like a warrior in battle without fearing death--who didn't admire such figure at all?

"Speak now, or I shall have you removed from the premises of my home." He didn't have time to listen to the delinquent child.

"Byakuya, he's a guest. Kurosaki-san, would you like to stay for dinner?" Hisana was always to first to welcome, the total opposite of her husband of course.

"I will not have uninvited delinquents to dinner, so don't encourage him." Byakuya looked briefly at his wife, but she simply shook her head at him.

"Don't listen to him, please. Now, Rukia-chan, why don't we start dinner, eh?" She looked at her young sister, but something laid in those bright eyes that only meant that she needed to stay here for something.

Rukia wasn't too easy to read, but when she was around the Kurosaki boy, she was like an open book. The look of adoration that was so strong, a made believe kind of thing, but Hisana understood it well. They went silent again, the grandfather clock on the side ticked softly minute after minute, the air outside had grown strong and the branches of the trees swayed against it like it was the music. The flowers on the small garden allowed their sweet scent to enter the library, air growing thinner with the minutes as Ichigo thought carefully on how to say what he had come to say.

"Byakuya…" He gulped, forgetting to call him by his surname and adding a honorific--there was no time for formalities at all.

"I want to marry him, Nii-sama." Rukia had slipped away from her sister's grasp, walking towards Ichigo and grabbing his hand. "Everyone keeps telling me what to do, who to love, who to trust--but I don't want to be told anymore. I don't want to marry anyone else, only Ichigo. Please."

Ichigo looked down at her, Byakuya saw that look about the boy towards his young sister. There were things in this world that went unnoticed by everyone, a keen eye wasn't able to see fear and love at the same time, they weren't able to tell love or fear as a separate, but he knew that Rukia spoke only the truth by that adoring look in her eyes. Determination. His wife simply gasped, a smile spread on her face as if she had known all along, but still managed to act surprised.

"Why do you have a desire for this boy?" He stared at her, trying to find a reason to not allow her.

"I love him, is that not a good reason?" She was strong, stubborn as one could get.

He stared at the two of them, briefly over looking the foolishness of their teenage years, their obsession with love and all of that thing. He had been there in the past, everyone did of course, but there was something more to this. Looking awkward, glancing to one another…their behaviour spoke something more and hidden.

"Is there another reason?" He questioned, looking at the two of them carefully.

"Ah…that's…a…" Rukia looked down at the floor, unable to say what she wanted to say at all.

"She's pregnant, that's why." Ichigo pulled Rukia closer, glaring at her older brother and not flinching as his murderous glare turned to him.

"What did you say?" Byakuya's tone was higher, colder, menacing. "Rukia cannot possibly be--pregnant. Tell me this is a lie Rukia."

"No, its not a lie." Ichigo pulled out the five sticks from his pocket. "Three out of five, my father already checked her and confirmed it. She's pregnant with my child."

"You've deflowered my sister?" His tone was murderous, eyes glinting so sharply with the light. "You've gone too far this time boy, too far."

"I'm willing to take responsibility for it because I wouldn't want to leave her at all." He wanted to stand strong against the man, to tell the truth with every single inch of himself that was to offer it willingly.

"You're simply 17 year olds, what kind of responsibility do the two of you know?" Byakuya couldn't help to stay silent, this was unnecessary. "How long?"

"How long what?" Ichigo held tighter to Rukia.

"Don't play games now, boy. How long is she along?" Patience was running low, how could a simple boy bring him to the brink of anger like that so easily?

"About two weeks, why?" The grasp on her got tighter, Rukia didn't even wince as her eyes simply stared at her brother.

She didn't want to hear it, did not want to listen to what his brother was about to say to them. Heart began to beat faster, faster…the drum roll suddenly came because the march of death would come as well. The words came though, each stabbing the wound many times again, again, again…

"What the hell did you just say?" Ichigo's arms flexed, Rukia wanted to hold him back but couldn't.

"Byakuya, how could you say something like that?" Hisana gasped, horrified at the thought of such act being done. "Are you crazy? Is this about the family again?"

"I swore not to break the rules." Byakuya's voice was solemn, sad almost as his eyes turned to the shocked teenagers. "This is gone far too long, Rukia I'm not going to accept your choice. Get rid of this, you'll marry the man and the family would forgive you."

Rukia began to cry, how dare he speak so lowly like that? A hand immediately came to her stomach, protecting the child in there was so important because it was Ichigo's and a dream come true. Adoration really changed people so greatly, she could feel her heart breaking slowly at the sick thought of removing the unborn cell on her stomach.

Ichigo looked down at his girlfriend, tears streaked her face. Many promises were made so long ago, never seeing her cry or making her cry had been one of them, always protecting her with everything he could give and make her happy. His amber eyes flashed at the man, hatred could never run so deep within, murder was never the intention at all, but he had made Rukia cry for it.

"Damn bastard!" He hissed maliciously at the cold man, wanting to rip each limb away from him.

Running away would be the best answer, no one saw it happening at all, two bodies laid on the floor punching each other. Hisana and Rukia gasped at the sight, Byakuya had never fought anyone in his life at all, perhaps threatening them and all that, but never actually fighting them. Ichigo punched him on the side of his face, merely feeling the hate towards the man that wouldn't let anything be; all morals were pulled away from the two.

Rukia watched in horror, Ichigo would never start a fight like that at all, he was a believe in pacifism and everything like that, but this was…beyond words. Byakuya knew how to defend himself, he was much stronger and experienced then her boyfriend. Ichigo was already bleeding, Byakuya simply looked untouched and was giving the boy a good beating.

"Nii-sama, stop it! Please, please stop it!" Rukia was shouting now, her cries strangled because Byakuya was much stronger then Ichigo, and she didn't want to see him get hurt at all. "Stop it, stop it…" Tears drenched her face now, Ichigo had stood up and looked pretty bad.

"Byakuya, please." Hisana stood besides him, pulling his arm back as he was about to punch the boy again and hurt him. "Its not worth fighting something you can't win, let them be."

"I can't--it's a disgrace to the family." His words were whispers, cold and deadly they were.

"Don't fight anymore, it can't be helped." His wife stared at him, there was no shame but only happiness. "You've said too much with that, Kurosaki-san doesn't like it when anyone makes her cry at all. Don't fight it, your words were too much for him--don't you see it already? They're in love, a child--their bond is stronger then anything else and you can't break it even if you wanted. Give up, just give up please."

"This is not what I wanted." He wiped the blood from his mouth. "She deserves better, not that."

"Please be reasonable, they were never teenagers in the first place. You have to understand at least once, see beyond what it is present in front of your eyes." Hisana didn't hate him, could never hate him because she knew what it felt like to love someone so much. "Kurosaki-san only wants to protect Rukia-chan, never hurt her in any way possible. Is that not a reason enough to have them stay that way?"

His grey orbs moved towards the boy and his sister, she was crying and had removed her school sweater to clean off his blood. Her eyes stared deeply at him, his own eyes looked apologetic as his fingers continued to remove the tears.

"I'm sorry about that, you're crying." He expressed to her. Byakuya could see it, clear as the night sky and evident like the clear water, love.

"Don't be, please stop blaming yourself." Rukia was telling everything, Ichigo blamed himself for all the hurt that which she suffered from. "We shouldn't have come, never." She resumed crying again, burying her face on his chest.

Ichigo smiled while holding her close, wanting to erase those tears from her face and making a smile appear on that angel's face again. There was no need to care what the world thought, what they would see them as, their eyes criticizing them completely because he was determined to protect her.

As much as Byakuya hated the boy, accepting it would be better because the other man didn't look fitting to marry his sister at all; there was a man that respected her, held her together and fought for her. Fighting, the spirit that was so important as the fire kindled, fierce it would become when in need and always burning brightly. Words went unexplained, bruises and punches were long forgotten as the new family sat in the table at night, enjoying the delicious dinner and saying no more.

Quiet, the wind whispered softly against the house and whistled happily. The trees looked like they were dancing, the tiny stars on the night sky were the lights for the world; a peaceful night it had become.

+…

Rukia remembered that day precisely, a scar that had stayed forever inside of her mind as she held onto him tighter. Tears stained her eyes now, was that how Karin would feel or more? Not caring about background, not caring about surnames--just loving the man that presented himself simply like a man to her. A man with desires, a man with strength, determination--was Hitsugaya Toushiro that kind of man? Willing to protect Karin with everything he had, fighting to keep her close and always loving her no matter what. Ichigo did that, his actions proved everything without expressing it with words at all.

"You're crying again, I'm sorry." He smiled at her, running his thumb across her cheeks to remove the tears. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything stupid like that."

"Is not that, I'm just happy." She smiled at him, remembering that night so clearly and meaningful. "I just wished things with Karin would fix."

He agreed on that one, briefly trying to find a way to get her out of that situation and allow her to return back to the old lifestyle. Worries never left, worries always attached themselves like glue and never eased at all. Pain never eased, it was forgotten and pushed away in the back of the mind instantly, the heart would continue beating, but then something would trigger it again. Ichigo didn't know what to do.

…+

Momo sat on the bathroom floor, many things running in her head as the sickness wouldn't go away at all. The strange dizzy spells, hate for foods that often she would adore greatly, suddenly feeling like something weighed her down--it was strange.

"Momo, are you alright?" Her mother, Kimiko, called from the other side of the door.

"Yes, I'm fine." Was she really? The words seemed to hold a different meaning though, her throat felt dry and felt the bile rise up again.

"Would you like me to take you to the doctor?" Kimiko could be so persistent over things, Momo scowled.

"No, stay out of it!" Momo wanted silence.

Her head pounded loudly against her skull, almost wanting escape and run free into the Spring air that was cool. Everything felt fuzzy, nothing made sense anymore as her vision blurred again…what was this strange sensation? Slowly though, the realization was nothing but sudden as a gasp escaped her lips. She pulled her door open to her room, feet moving fast across the room and searching for the calendar. From the heaps of papers that laid on her desk, Momo simply pushed them off and stared at the calendar of the month.

A month and two weeks had already passed, never had she missed a period at all in her life--only once it had happen when she had suffered from pneumonia. All those naïve health classes told the process, the monthly cycle and all of that rubbish, how women got pregnant…she wasn't stupid for Pete's sake. Another dramatic gasp escaped those pink lips, eyes widened with fear and wonder, heart only continued to beat faster and faster…

"No…" Words were whispers, heart beatings echoed on the silenced room. "I…can't…be…"

+…

* * *

_Blah! That's the word of the day. Spending day and night thinking of what the hell to write for my damn speech is really becoming annoying, mainly when there's nothing to think of writing. Gawd, this sucks! Anyways...I apologize for this crappy filler or whatever you want to call it...I already have two chapters waiting to be posted, but I'm adding more to them. So...on with **Bleeding Box:**_

_+Moon Of Jupiter: 'Woot, someone liked my chapter lol. I found it to be depressing after I went and read it, but had to add it for my personal enjoyment of tortuing the two of them Muahahahahah! Okay, kidding. Thanks again for the awesome reviews you give me, thank you! Hope that you liked this filler, though that I'd try something else before continuing with my story here.'_

_+Le Rukia: 'Woot, those were some of my favourite lines as well lol. Thank you though, and Karma is bad--that's why I don't play with her or else! Aizen is my sadistic bastard for this story, thought that I stick with his sadistic crap and well we all know he's a bastard, but he's going to be a good guy...not actually bad. Thanks for the review!'_

_+Whitecloud1: 'I know a lot of angst lol! Didn't want to, but just stick with me for a while until its over and we'll go back--it will return to normal in my next chapter though. Anyways, I'll have to clear up that last part well...jeez I think I even confused myself! Damn! Oh well, thank you for the review as always!'_

_**Important:** Have to clear out the very last part of the last chapter. Actually, in the beginning it wasn't going to be Karin 'cos I thought Momo would be much better, but everyone kept thinking that it was her--so I'll stick with that one. It actually worked for the next chapters, but something will happen to Momo (obviously). Also, I have made myself a goal...I'll like to have 50 reviews by my 10th chapter, more if possible. So strange that I'm setting goals, so we'll see how that goes. _

_Review please, please!! I'm not the one to beg, not at all, but they are very important. Hate it? Crap! Maybe next time! No flames since I don't make enough money to get myself an extinguisher. Criticism: don't need it! Thanks and see ya on the next chapter! -bleedingxinxspace_


	7. Won't Take It

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach or any of its characters! I'm living in my hermit hole, not going outside--not risking it!!!

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

"_Hope is the thing with feathers_

_That perches in the soul._

_And sings the tune_

_Without the words,_

_And never stops at all."_

-Emily Dickinson

+---+

_All words failed to come to her head, not even a remark or a sound seemed to escape her lips at all. The doctor stared at her simply, saying nothing at all and waiting for her. He blinked several times, breathing slowly and calm, collective he was. Kyoraku Shunsui could only stare at Hinamori Momo, perhaps she wasn't waiting for those kind of news at all--unexpected was the proper word for this. _

"_H-how…l-long?" She managed to ask, eyes still unfocused and head spinning. _

"_About three weeks, almost a month." He explained. Each woman was different, obviously, some were special and others were just plain old Jane's. Fathoming the thought of pregnancy at a young age couldn't exist, some did embrace it well, but Hinamori Momo didn't seem to fancy it much. _

"_B-but…" Still, words seemed hard to become structured sentences in her head. _

"_Ah, some women wouldn't notice it. Every body of a woman is different, surely you knew that." Shunsui stood this time. "Would you like--" She cut him off by raising her hand. _

"_Just keep silence about this, please." Momo muttered, closing her eyes. "My parents are not to know about this." _

_The man said nothing, sighing only due to how strange it felt staring at the little girl that he once knew in the past. No longer the girl though, a woman with an unknown future that didn't seem bright at all. Kyoraku sort of felt sad about that, sad to know that Momo had changed so much and had become another person--what had gone wrong? Forcing herself to face a tough situation, bearing a child with an unknown father--what would she do now? _

"_Of course, but may I add something?" _

"_What would that be? Not a lecture about life at all, please." _

_He nodded comprehensibly. "Shouldn't you just let Hitsugaya-kun go? It would be a mistake to bring him a child that is not his, nothing good would come out of that." _

"_I told you that there was no need for a lecture, Shunsui." She glared at him. "I'm marrying him no matter what, unless there's a reason that I should not." He stared at her, the naïve thoughts that ran in that head were surely stupid and too much._

"_You're wrong about that kind of choice. Don't do something that will end up hurting you and him." His gaze burned a hole in her chest. His words stabbed a wound that was already there. "Are you willing to trade an unknown happiness for hate? Sacrificing selfish feelings for love isn't a choice." _

_She stood by the door, hand on the handle. Sacrificing feelings that weren't shared equally, of course she was aware of how much Toushiro hated her now. Forcing him to marry her, forcing onto him a child that wasn't his--that was the picture in her head already. Momo didn't want to be hated by him, that was wrong from her part. _

"_It wouldn't be fair, to him especially," He continued. "Let him go, it is best." Momo said nothing, simply walking out of the door and shutting it lightly. Kyoraku knew that it was best to let her know the truth, stop believing in a fairytale life that didn't exist._

+…

+--Won't Take It--+

Two weeks--they felt much longer and had gone by without any motion at all. No time to worry about the pain at all, no time to think or feel any hope. Toushiro felt like just being thrown into the crazy house instead. Momo had become extremely pushy, the wedding was simply one week away and she was the only one excited. No emotion seemed to exist, nothing could be felt deep inside since there was nothing to feel.

There were no longer smiles, words that spoke since he was devoid of showing any emotion towards Momo completely. She acted so happy, her smile had become uncontrolled. What kind of happiness would exist to love a person that didn't love you back? The marriage was a mistake, had been one since it had been announced publicly and it was simply only important to her. Did anyone care about what he thought?

"Shiro-chan, what flavour do you like better?" They were doing cake tasting. The world could end at any second, but that was just a little bit much of wishful thinking.

"Don't care what kind it is, choose whatever you want." His eyes only continued to stare at nothing, it was better like that. He wanted out badly, run away and hide from all of these. Cakes, dresses, guests--weddings were overrated and useless.

"Oh, come on Shiro-chan! He's just nervous, we'll take the chocolate though." She continued to smile so radiantly. "Tomorrow is your last fitting for your tux, isn't this so exciting?"

He couldn't take this anymore, putting an act in front of her and please her. Why couldn't she just realized that he didn't care about her? Why forcing him to marry her for no reason at all? Momo didn't love him because she was fantasizing about something that was unrealistic and practical. A perfect couple could never exist, a fairytale was simply for little children, their minds were not fully developed yet to understand the difference between fictional things and realism. A joke was the only thing waiting to happen.

"Whatever. I'm leaving." He stood up and walked out of the room. The entire mansion felt suffocating to him, living under the same roof as Momo was enough Hell without the wedding staring right at him. Though, at the moment the thought of dying and going to Hell did not sound that bad.

The spring air was fresh and warm, the sun hanging upon the cloudless sky looking like those perfect days on a movie. Everything was out of place though, he wonder vaguely if there was a purpose for all of the weird things going on and what they would give in the end. His father seemed more reluctant on stopping the wedding, which Toushiro couldn't agree more to, but Ryo was stalling for some reason. Frankly, all he wanted was to wake up and move on with life as if it was nothing.

The shiny blue car awaited for him on the garage, his dog was barking at him while wiggling his tale. That was about the only soul that made him smile lately, Hyorinmaru was the only one that didn't make him worry.

"Hyorinmaru, come on." The dog barked once again and got into the car as Toushiro opened the door.

A long drive seemed enough to forget, to get past the barriers that stood on the road. The beautiful landmarks would not judge, won't throw wedding crap at him like Momo and it blocked those thoughts away. Since Karakura didn't bring much entertainment, Toushiro had found himself a spot by an empty road that allowed him to see a beautiful sunset, besides that, no one would bother him with it. Being alone seemed much comforting, even if there was pain to find in the end, but it brought a bitter happiness that was welcomed with open arms.

In that lonely paradise no one judged him, no one bothered to think of him as this great man that everyone saw. He was simply Toushiro, a regular human being and not a great man. Somehow, such greatness seem to exist far away in some other man's grasp unlike him. A smile appeared on his face, all thoughts were seeking so much in life that they were getting mental lately--it was fine though. Smiling was good, forgetting the wedding and Momo mattered at least, but still no matter what his mind couldn't simply forget Karin.

What was so special about Karin? That was a question that remained unanswered until now, only that the answer was incomplete and hazy as well. Her importance in his life--what was that? Karin was an entity in his world, the angel of salvation that night so long ago, she made him forget who he was. No need to act like the big guy, being the simple man was enough to be loved by her. A simple girl, that's all she was and no more, playing the professional woman, the mother to his son, the daughter and sister.

That still did not answer the question at all. Toushiro thought of her as everything, his whole being seem to depend on her greatly and her feelings. Every inch of care that which she had provided had been enough. No barriers were created, criticism didn't exist, strength flowed greatly and with a simple smile there was enough happiness to withhold in life alone.

"I've gone mad." Toushiro muttered to himself. Hyorinmaru barked again. "Of course, now I'm talking to a blasted dog." The dog wiggled his tail this time, tilting his head to the side.

Life was unexplained to every human being, no manual existed that could help deal with all emotions. Somehow, he felt that hope was the only reason that which could fix everything. Chasing, chasing…Was that the only thing that which he would do for the rest of his life? She was worth everything in life--no money or power could claim Kurosaki Karin.

The sun was sinking, the golden-copper colours were breathtaking and they moved the heart. A pang of anxiety suddenly came over him, like a wave rushing and pulling him underneath the dense surface. The strange feeling was new, tightening in the stomach and mind suddenly diffusing itself from the body--rare for him to actually feel.

"Tch, you two kicked it too hard! I told you not to. Kazuki, please don't be reckless." A woman's voice came suddenly. His turquoise eyes looked down at the tall woman and two small orange haired boys walking side by side.

"Aw, but I want to learn to be like you Karin-neesan!" The taller orange haired boy expressed. On his hands was a soccer ball.

"Otousan said it was okay." The smaller boy inquired. "He teaches stuff to, but you're better."

Karin smiled at her two nephews, feeling slightly solemn about everything because she wished that her son was older too. Different sceneries ran in her mind lately, much that she didn't think about the pain in particular and was trying to move on. Despite the fact that everything felt like a game, mainly with Yourichi and Urahara, who had explained their misunderstanding weeks ago.

Nothing in the world seemed to fix it now, not when she was stubborn and had decided to let it go. A choice had been made, one that could not be changed. Perhaps it was better this way, knowing that no one would be in danger and Yourichi would at least save Toushiro's life. As much as loving someone went, love couldn't simply save a life at all. She was so transfixed on her thoughts that she hadn't noticed it, a chill suddenly ran in her spine.

"Karin-neesan?" Kazuki looked at her. The man sitting on the railing seemed to be staring as well, almost confused.

Toushiro gazed at Karin, fixated on the fact that there would come a day in which he would meet with her again. She looked well, everything about her was glowing and had remained the same from his very last memory of her. All sense, worry, anger…vanished in thin air by the look of her beautiful dark eyes staring at him. Weeks had gone by, almost all of her had disappeared from his mind completely. What would anyone kill to press a reset button, to start all over again and try to remove all obstacles on course.

"Lets go, come on you two." She grabbed their hands and started to walk away.

As much as she wanted to speak to him, to see him and explain everything would do nothing. In one week, things would be over and there wouldn't be anything else to look forward to. Running from that dream was better, almost comforting enough to seek a certain joy about life without worrying. Was it really better this way? Karin wanted to comprehend it all, see the entire picture on the frame and manage to grasp its meaning.

In an unknown place in mind, perhaps her and Toushiro could exist together and lead a good life as if none of this would've happened. Except, reality indeed crashed and burned right at the bottom of her feet and glowed in mocking. Her legs dragged her, Kazuki and Koji had begun to complain about being pulled roughly down the road again, but Toushiro seemed reluctant to chase after them.

"Wait, Karin!" He shouted. Why did she have to run away?

There was a chance of getting her back, to return to the same old lie in which both had suddenly been drawn into and perhaps change it. He wanted to believe it so badly, almost to the point in which the rest no longer mattered anymore. Chances came and went, one after another and so on--almost as though it was written plainly to him to understand and take action. A life with Momo wouldn't be a life, it would only compare to those long days spent in jail or someone suffering simply waiting to die because there did not exist a resolution with that kind of life.

He chased after her because life really depended on getting Karin back, to put all those scattered pieces back into one and allowing that to retain longer this time; perhaps forever. Hyorinmaru was chasing along as well, barking as they stepped into a park and he was chasing faster of course. The random by-passers stared oddly, the night sky was suddenly appearing above, and neither was going to give the other the satisfaction.

"Otousan!" The two orange haired boys had stopped suddenly. Kurosaki Ichigo sat on a park bench holding a baby in his arms and on his side was Rukia.

"Hey, didn't think the ball would've ran away that far?" He looked at them, smiling on the process.

Toushiro stopped on his tracks while spotting the eldest Kurosaki, seeing them interact was odd for some reason since he hadn't known about family. A father and mother smiling at their children, looking very comfortable there and having a good laugh. Karin stood there silently, feeling the burning gaze from behind her and becoming very uncomfortable suddenly as she tugged on the sweat shirt she was wearing.

"Oi, Karin are you alright?" Ichigo asked, while looking at her.

She hoped and prayed that Ichigo wouldn't see him, but that damned dog was now sitting besides her and barking madly. Though, as the sharp intake of breath could be heard from her brother--there was no need to bother and see the fire that burned in his gaze. Swear words began to escape his mouth suddenly, at least she was glad that he had Amaya on his arms and unable to get up. Karin didn't know why in the hell she was feeling badly, not that it was her fault that he was following her.

"What the hell do you want?!" He shouted suddenly.

"Ichigo, you idiot!" Rukia glared at him as Amaya began to cry.

"Karin, what the hell is _he_ doing here?" Ichigo asked her. A week ago, after finding out that she was pregnant, he had found out who the father of Yoshiro was and swore to kill him if he were to see him.

"I-I don't know." She muttered softly. Why was she making excuses? "Please, just drop it Ichi-nii, please."

Exactly this was the type of thing that which Karin wanted to avoid because continuing to move on and forget about him entirely would be impossible now. Toushiro's child was growing inside of her, this was exactly what it felt like the first time and it hadn't been a great feeling. Besides, what good would it do now if she were to say that she was pregnant again? Everything just wouldn't simply come and fall right into place, to become the real dream and live happily ever after; even if she wanted to believe strongly in it.

He stood there like a statue, unable to move or feel anything while she seemed to struggle. Kurosaki's words didn't seem to register, though Toushiro felt like screaming out his reasons would've perhaps done something; frankly what the hell it would do for him in the first place? His feet moved forward, Kurosaki's glare intensified and he was now handing the baby to the mother.

"No, Ichi-nii!" Karin acted quickly, pushing Ichigo backwards and coming between the two. A confrontation would do nothing at all, not when the situation wouldn't even be able to get fixed with punches and name calling.

"Let go Karin, now. This bastard is done for." He grumbled at her.

"Ichigo, please don't do anything stupid." Rukia had stood up, grabbing his arm and pulling him back. "There's nothing that you can do to fix this, not when Karin has decided it for herself."

Ichigo looked down at his wife, trying hard to see beyond the look that which she had, but Karin wasn't happy to begin with. Each day looked like a damn graveyard show with her around, silent and no longer the type of girl that would mouth him off--he actually missed that. Hitsugaya Toushiro was to blamed for everything, no matter if his fucking life was on the line, it would be worth beating the shit out of him.

"Can't, you know what you've done?" His gaze turned to Toushiro, making him stop completely only a few feet away from them. "Is this what you had in mind when you played with my sister? Of course, not giving a damn about the fact that now she's pregnant--"

"Stop it! Just shut the hell up, Ichigo!" Karin shouted, tears were streaming down her eyes now. "I-I d-didn't want h-him to know."

Toushiro froze entirely, she was pregnant. With his child. He stared at her, all those tears were filled with agony and sadness, almost imploring him to make a sudden movement. What could he do to fix it though? All of his feelings suddenly vanished, replaced by the happiness of hearing those news, even if the world was fighting against the two of them and trying to keep them apart. Wedding plans, cakes, marriage--vanished entirely as his long legs dragged him forward, erasing the background and everyone around. She was important, the sole reason of existing and of feeling--Karin.

"Ichigo, don't." Rukia held her husband back. Toushiro embraced Karin, holding her against him.

Rukia smiled, misery and pain shouldn't exist on the same plane and in two hearts at once, this was a good picture. Her daughter cooed softly, her soft amber eyes were wide open--overwhelmingly happy.

Time passed by, the sky was already dark and the street lamps had been illuminating the park for a few hours already. Kazuki and Koji had gotten tired, they sat on the bench while petting Hyorinmaru. Ichigo simply sat on the bench pissed off, not that this wasn't a good thing because it might help Karin return to normal again; which was the only important thing at the moment. Rukia had long since then left, Amaya needed to stay away from the bad weather because she was still young, besides she had been invited by Tatsuki for dinner.

As for Karin, she simply stood there with Toushiro still and held onto him tightly. Tears had long ago vanished, eyes only staring at the stitching of his dress shirt and smelling her favourite cologne. Toushiro held onto her, his warmth wrapped around them both as the warm breeze of the night whistled softly across the park.

"Ne, Otousan. What is Karin-neechan and that man holding each other like that for?" Koji looked up at his father, wonder etched across his young face.

"I'll like to know myself, but it seems that they aren't going to do anything at all." Ichigo grumbled, standing up and pulling out his phone to see the time. "Come on Kazuki and Koji, we have to get going before we starve to death and your Ojii-san starts to whine again."

The two boys pouted, but followed their father after giving Hyorinmaru a hug. Karin moved for the first time, her eyes gazing at the silhouettes of her brother and nephews. Suddenly, she pushed herself away from Toushiro and gazed at him.

"I-I'm sorry." He apologized. "I-I shouldn't have followed you at all and…well all of these to happen."

"No, don't apologize anymore. Please." She implored, raising her arms in defeat. "Why is it that we always break up when we are never together?"

He grinned a little. "Its something that goes unexplained most of the time, no reasoning exists behind our choices."

It was her turn to grin, while grasping her sweat shirt and looking up at the moon. The silver ring around it was bright, the tiny stars splashed themselves across the vastly dark abyss and glowed greatly like tiny diamonds. Forgiveness existed entirely, a person had to gain will and strength to actually accept it and embrace it. She looked back at him, a hand placed right on her stomach.

"Toushiro, I should be the one to apologize." He was slightly taken surprised by that, mouth opening but being stopped. "No, it was really my fault for misunderstanding a lot of things. Except, that I keep believing that maybe there would be an 'us' along the way in the future, and that only made me feel worse. I-I love you so much it hurt to tell you that, it turned worse when the news came about this child and you."

"I don't understand, what do you mean about me?" He cocked his head to the side.

Maybe it was wrong telling him everything, but there was the right of knowing about the danger that which he faced. Karin breathed in deeply, allowing all of her lungs and heart to feel stronger for this.

"Many people are in danger with your marriage, if you marry, Rukia-nee's brother will be in danger along with my brother's company," Karin looked at him, not a single surprised look appeared on his face. "Many people are in danger because of Hinamori Jun. Toushiro, he's going to have you killed on the same night of your wedding." All the weight that which she had held onto suddenly fell, crashing and shattering into tiny pieces.

Toushiro had to repeat that in his head ten times, perhaps even more, he wasn't sure anymore. Hinamori Jun wasn't that type of man, was he? Though, all of those weird details about him trying to rush the wedding and everything--odd. A man with a cunning ability like him, being able to see outside of the frame and see everyone as individuals was a great talent. No one would even guess it, then again, nothing really shocked him when it came of life being on the line; it was his father's life that Toushiro would acquire in the future.

"That's funny, never expected that any person would want me dead that bad." He sounded cool about it, which Karin found strange. "You already are aware of my life, the kind that which I was born into and the danger that comes along with it--right? There are dangers in this world that I have to face, alone."

She rushed to grasp his arm, to hold him there and not letting him walk away. "Don't, please. You're not alone."

Toushiro smiled at her, those lovely eyes were so worried that it hurt to feel a strength that really didn't exist there, but what could he do? Time would come and go, people would live and die--all of that happened each day except that he could not let her worry any more then she should.

"Karin, I love you." He leaned forward to capture her lips.

Savouring her was like tasting Fall, so cool and invigorating because he didn't enjoy much summer or spring for that matter. Her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him down as she opened her mouth for him to keep on tasting his wintry flavour. Karin felt so much emotions rush into her, was this the right thing?

Toushiro's life was in danger because of his engagement to some girl, her father wanted to kill Toushiro just to get power and money--murder wasn't worth anything. Except, perhaps Toushiro's father had killed some along the way, a man that powerful was to be feared.

Tears suddenly wet his hands, Karin was crying and he moved from her mouth to kiss them away since it hurt him as well.

"Stop crying, please." He begged. Turquoise eyes stared deep into dark ones.

"I-I can't. W-what if I d-don't see y-you again?" Karin closed her eyes, such weak emotions were still new for her. "I-I don't want t-to l-lose you! Please, please don't go back to them."

Waking up somewhere far away was a dream, no danger or people opposing them would be such a welcoming picture that Toushiro wanted to taker her and run away. A world were there was no one opposing them, no one wanting to kill him and only having her for company seemed so perfect at the moment. Waking up in her arms, her warmth forming a cocoon around him entirely, the feel of her skin underneath him--a dream.

"Let's run away then. Move far away." He stared at her desperately now. "I think I've lost my sanity for the past two weeks, but continuing lying to myself is worse. Karin, I want only you in this world."

She tried hard to reach a lie on those words, trying to foresee something more because it still seemed like they were rushing into everything. Every inch of his face held nothing, only that hopefulness that which she found hard to find for herself, and he was not lying. As much as worry should exist on that choice alone, a smile crept up involuntarily in her face.

"Ichi-nii has the right to know at least, because I want him to believe in my choice." Karin walked backwards while holding Toushiro's hand and tugging him forward. "Or else, I won't take it for the rest of my life."

Fear should exist with telling Kurosaki Ichigo, except that there was none as his legs dragged him forward. The beating of his heart could perhaps resound at the moment, the butterflies that he had never felt before were present now--only Karin was able to do something like that.

* * *

_Sorry, sorry...updates are going to come rather slow. Had a damn investigation stuff to do, which is still not done and working in groups sucks. Anyways, besides currently I am residing inside of my hermit hole 'cos of the swine flu--the state in which I live in here in my country has taken up warning--therefore I don't go outside. I edited this chapter so many times, but I can't do much to it anymore. No Bleeding Box today though. I'm taking a few senteces to tell people that you should follow the instructions of being careful if you live in a place where warnings of the swine flu have been given. Please, do take care people 'cos its dangerous and take precaution if you have to go out of your homes--that's all. Anyways, well I'm suffering from writer's block--had since my last update so be patient with updates._

_ The story is making a different turn now, so please try to follow along with it. Not sure on how the next chapter will work out, but LE GASP! Toushiro and Karin are running away? Wonder what that bitchy Momo is going to do...umm...ideas, ideas flowing now! Thanks for all of the reviews and the support everyone! A million thanks to Whitecloud1 for being a great supporter and for all the great tips! Le Rukia is my new muse and Moon Of Jupiter is keeping me sane! Okay, now I'm off! Review if you like it! If you hate it, well that's too damn bad then maybe next time. Until next update--bleedingxinxspace_


	8. Fleeing Of Flowers

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach or any of its characters! Sighs, the hermit hole is starting to become annoying! On with the chapter---

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

+…

"_Not everything that is faced can be changed,_

_But nothing can be changed until it is faced._"

-James Baldwin

…+

The room sat still for hours, silence growing thicker along with tension as if they were best friends suddenly, while everyone continued to stare at each other. Confusion, curiosity, anger--different kinds of emotions were planted on the faces of the people. Minutes continued to fly away, nothing inside of the room seemed to be moving like everything outside.

"Well this isn't shocking at all." Kurosaki Isshin leaned forward, breaking the long silence. His gaze turned towards Karin trying to find something else, but there was nothing to be found. "Leniency can only be taken so far, but this is foolishness."

She expected him to be the supportive one, to actually accept the choice that which she wanted so badly to follow; but it wasn't so. Ichigo had long ago voiced out his opinion, expressing his true view of their stupid choice and trying hard to stop his sister. Running away could never solve a problem, that would bring more problems and even danger along the way. Where could they possibly go? There was no place in this world that could be held liable to fit for a hiding place, not one that which no one knew about; unless getting drifted away into a deserted island were to happen anytime soon.

Toushiro couldn't say anything, what could he say? 'Hey, your daughter is pregnant with my child and we're running away'. Of course, that would be something completely childish to say, especially with the wedding nearing soon. Karin continued to argue, fighting for something that which she felt strongly about, but he just couldn't bring himself to do so. Frankly, he wouldn't even win because there were a lot of things to be lost and risking it would only turn for the worst.

"Karin-chan, think about this properly." Isshin looked at her. "It's unnecessary to choose the road that leads no where, not when Hitsugaya-san is in problems himself."

"I don't give a damn!" She spat, her fists balled at her side. So, what if it was a bad choice running away suddenly? People were suddenly beginning to care, as if they had for so long already. "Is happiness something that I can't have now?"

"That's not what he means, Karin." Ichigo muttered, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. Arguing about this would not get any good result, especially if everyone in the room would continue making her angry. "The situation with him wouldn't turn better if the two of you run away. Besides, when in the hell did you decide to act like a teenager?"

The world wouldn't be able to understand the explanation, no one would be able to grasp the meaning at all because their hearts were in the right place. She wanted to scream it, write it on big billboards just to get the message across for everyone to see. Though, they were right on pointing out that their choice was stupid, it sounded like all of those confused teenagers that ran away from home because they weren't happy. What kind of example was she setting for herself?

"They're right. Lets not do this, Karin." Toushiro spoke for the very first time. She turned to him. "Risking your life is not something I'm willing to do, especially with what is happening to you now."

"What do you mean?" Isshin asked, worry spreading across his face.

Exactly, how in the hell could he explain the fact that Karin was carrying his child--for the second time? It was stupid, so stupid on having to be in this kind of situation and it was getting extremely irritating as well. Toushiro stood, then lowering on the floor on his knees, bowing his head to the floor--perhaps it was better to apologize before hand; not that there was actually any kind of experience in apologizing.

"I'm very sorry," he stared at Kurosaki Isshin. "Karin is pregnant with my child, sir. I do not know what I will do, but this time leaving her alone is not an option." His forehead touched the floor, forgiveness did not come so easily.

Isshin arched his brow, so Hitsugaya Toushiro indeed held a pure heart and held honesty for himself. Who would've believed something like that, of course he could see it clearly. His daughter could easily decide for herself, choose to find the person that would make her happy and without expressing much discomfort regarding the situation that both were in. He could see how deeply the white haired young man cared.

"How are you going to protect my precious daughter?" He asked, rubbing his chin while staring down at him.

Toushiro raised his head, his teal eyes glancing at the dark ones of the man, trying hard to think quickly on a choice. Going home and telling his father to cancel the damned wedding; wouldn't do any good. Going to the Hinamori estate was out of the question--there were no options at all. He shook his head, what could be a great plan? Except, showing that he didn't know would be bad.

"I will find a way by the end of the week, before the wedding date." It sounded great, but loudly it was extremely false for his own good.

Isshin nodded in agreement, knowing well that he was young and really didn't know what he was saying with that. Of course, the important thing was Karin and her happiness that was on the line, but adding the fact that she was pregnant again.

+---+

+--Fleeing of Flowers--+

Fingers typed dutifully across the keyboard, eyes stared carefully at each precise word that which was being written while at the same time they stared at another report. Yes, Renji was wasting another three-four hour period writing the dozen of reports that had been piled for him today. Of course, it seemed as though Captain Komamura enjoyed torturing him or perhaps it was a sadist idea from the other guys. The office was fairly spacious, there was nothing interesting to it because it was a damned mess with all papers laying around along with other things. Evidence seemed the only thing that which was organized, but just the only thing.

On the large oak table in which he sat currently had folders on top of it, most were cases of domestic violence and few were of laundering--there were other varieties as well. The only thing that which sat apart from all the stacks of paper was the 8x11 picture frame. The smiling faces of a woman with medium length hair and a reddish-brown haired baby girl stood out, while Renji himself was holding the woman besides him. Yes, it was his treasure and it soothed his senses when office hours were completely overloaded with work.

"Damn it, I need a vacation." He groaned loudly, pushing the keyboard aside and leaning back. All of his muscles were sore--yesterday's training was overloaded and along the almost 30 minute land chase of some gag member kid. Yep, he definitely needed a vacation.

"Tch, who still does the long damn paperwork?" A bald man stood in the door. Mean looking eyes glaring down at him, arms folded across his muscular chest that still seemed to stand out on his grey suit. "I keep telling you Abarai to return to 11th and do the cool job, not that shitty paperwork."

"Thanks for the support, fucking cue ball." The red headed man snorted and pushed himself off the chair. "What the hell are you doing here? Charity work?"

The bald man's eyes narrowed, an invisible tick mark appeared with the nickname. Except, it was not time to deal with the childish crap.

"I have a few things that need straighten out, if you don't mind. As officers." He sat on the chair in front of Renji, while he was pouring himself some water.

"Ikkaku, just cut the shit and get to point." Renji hated stalling and the mysterious acts that people often pulled; especially coming from his friends.

Ikkaku Madarame scoffed loudly, turning his sharp gaze to the small tattered window of the office. Usually, visits between the two weren't done while on the job, sure on the weekends for the occasional soccer games or some sumo match that they would watch for no reason at all. Except that today it wasn't such a friendly visit, Renji could easily deduce from the way Ikkaku was avoiding looking at him.

"Why are you working for Hinamori Momo?" He glanced back at his red headed friend. It was a serious question, despite of how unfriendly he was being at the moment and how Renji seemed confused.

"I don't get what you mean by that, care to elaborate your accusation for me." The red headed detective sat down, feeling completely calm despite the confusing question.

"Abarai, don't make it much more difficult alright." Ikkaku stood up sharply, walking towards the window. The city below looked so innocent, calm without feeling threatened by anything big, but somewhere in between was actually a battle going on that none were aware off.

Renji glanced at the clock, it was far too early in the day to have an argument--let alone talk about Momo. What was to talk about? That she was a completely psycho bitch, completely mental that needed so many restraining orders held against her…and so on.

"I've told her that I wasn't her personal slave, nor did I sign up to play the fucking guard dog." His words were hard. The mention of her name felt like poison being injected to him. "Where in the hell did that suddenly come from?"

Ikkaku turned at his words, Renji was clenching his jaw tightly and looked enraged. So, he figure that his red headed friend couldn't possibly be helping their once favourite friend. The past needed to be buried away so deep, so far away from his reach, but at the moment Ikkaku found it impossible to do so. A case against her had been raised, one from an anonymous source that which revealed that Hinamori Momo was attempting on having her fiancé-soon-to-be-husband murder.

Besides that, he wouldn't believe that Renji could be helping her--not after Momo had nearly pushed him into the busy road when they were 2nd year students in junior high. And, Renji sought to protect people, not harm them.

"There's a rumour going around that she wants Hitsugaya Toushiro dead, do you know anything about that?" The colour on Renji's face drained out, eyes slightly bulging and his breathing had hitched.

"What the fuck did you just say?!" Renji couldn't believe his ears.

"There's a hit for him, a friend from the inside of a gang informed us." Ikkaku folded his arms across his chest again. "Also, it seems that her father is doing some dirty work. Wire transfers from here to Jamaica, to Palestine and one to Laos. Plus, it seems some money has gone missing from his company in Russia; it clearly shows that something is going on since he's meeting up with dodgy people."

Renji held his hands up, what kind of information was he going to share in one single conversation, and besides, what was Ikkaku sharing all of that for? Wire transfers to Jamaica, Palestine and Laos--fishy of course and unheard off.

"From the sounds of it, they are large sums," Ikkaku continued. "and extremely large that his building in Florence had to shut down for the lack of payment to the workers."

"You're talking about serious shit here, besides, why in the hell are you sharing it with me?" Renji raised his brow. "Isn't the 11th supposed to be the big guys, the ones that have the better technology and all of that. Why are you telling me all of that?"

Ikkaku sighed, sometimes people were dense. "Fucking moron, ever heard off Urahara Kisuke and his wife Yourichi?" Renji nodded. "Of course, who wouldn't. Urahara the damn lucky bastard, the best in the business and the government seeks his help."

"Seriously, I'll make sure to buy his biography." The red headed man rolled his eyes. Ikkaku snorted while cutting him a glare. "That's besides the point, just get to it before I decide to walk out of my office or shove all my paperwork down your throat."

"Arrogant moron." He grunted. "Now, let me get to the point before you do something drastic."

"Thanks."

"We don't know what the hell is going on, but it seems that Urahara is all over the problem already." He continued, "plus, his wife is in deep watching Jun carefully because they've discovered that he's building up on taking down the government; therefore, the plot has been discovered."

Renji coughed a laugh, what kind of stupid conspiracy theory was he working with? Hinamori Jun and Momo--that would be a rather twisted world and a very stupid thing to do. His laugh became louder, much childish that Ikkaku had to hold his words back and allow his friend to process it on his own.

Impossible was the word that could simply flash across on his mind, Hinamori Jun couldn't possibly want to take out many people for the sake of power--could he? No, Momo was just as stupid as anyone could get and perhaps even more, though as Renji's laughter began to subside; mind was already at work.

So, he began to process everything slower in a big picture frame. There was the bizarre wire transferring of money to those places, the involvement of two greatest spies/detectives…it felt like being part of those Patterson's thriller books. The sensation boggling his mind was new, like an invisible bubble trying to penetrate his mind and pulling a bunch of information within.

"You're serious about this," Renji looked at the bald man. There was something definitely going on, and it wouldn't be good. "And are your theories correct or what?"

"Concrete. Evidence has been popping out of nowhere thanks to Urahara and his wife, but unfortunately things aren't looking good at the moment." Ikkaku commented. "And to be honest, I'm not liking the way it's going to end like that."

As they wrapped up their conversation, Renji still couldn't believe that anyone would go as far as killing someone just to get money. He knew that Hitsugaya Toushiro didn't even like Momo, he disliked her to greatly that he had been secretly seeing Kurosaki Karin. Though, the more his thoughts continued to run rampant, his best friend's sister would be in danger.

"I really, really need a vacation." He voiced it out loud, wanting for the feeling to disappear.

+…

That wasn't good and it wasn't looking well, not as Toushiro stared down his window and saw that everything for the wedding was being prepped already. It was the awful day, Friday. All options had ran out since the previous night, many pleadings hadn't done anything to stop the wedding. Had his father finally gone insane enough to allow his life to end like that? Toushiro wasn't as stupid as his father often thought of him as, he was aware that Ryo already knew about what Hinamori Jun was planning for the two of them to be killed after the wedding tonight. Fear was running high along with desperation, not two feelings that mixed well while Toushiro would try to find a way to get out of the house and never come back.

The phone ran constantly with the calls of the guests, Hinamori had called endlessly to his phone but it would be the call to never be answered. What was there to do now to get out of it? Pacing back and forth across his room was proving to be useless--the room itself was an utter mess that it was ghastly to look at. Piles of clothing were everywhere, sheets of paper were scattered around, trinkets and all sorts of things were lying around for the sake of keeping the room livid to some extent. His hands were shaking badly to the point that his stomach was twisting up in knots; the serious consequences for the nervousness would be horrid to think.

"Hitsugaya-sama. Hitsugaya-sama!" The young maid entered the room, looking rather alarmed as her eyes shifted across the room. "W-what…why is this room not clean?"

He merely stopped pacing and looked at her. Who cared for having a damned room clean at the moment? Though, it seemed that she wasn't going to pay attention to him as her hands began to pick up everything on the ground.

"It looks like a chicken farm in here, and what will happen when Hinamori-sama comes to stay in here tonight?" Did people honestly not care about how he felt about that woman? A groan escaped him, his teal eyes looking at her sharply with a murderous stare and hands roughly locked besides him.

"She will NOT be staying here." He spoke bitterly. "Get out! Get out at this instant and don't come back." The maid dropped the clothing that was in her arms and ran out. She feared him greatly.

Yes, the entire world loved that girl without even knowing her in reality. He grappled at his hair, how could this drive him completely insane? Karin had called once at the house, completely putting herself in danger, but Toushiro had been glad on hearing her voice--confidence suddenly came to him while thinking of her. Strange it was, love that is, how it easily lead a mind into a different state that was more healthy unlike the rest.

Possibilities had existed long ago--easily slipping away out of the country and never coming back. Surely that had been the only option long ago, before finding out that he was a father and the girl was none other then Kurosaki Karin; things had begun to change after that. Thrills were too much to handle in life each day, always keeping a low profile to keep enemies at bay, always hiding completely to never be found out, hiding the truth of who he was from the rest…that was completely troublesome. Did peace ever be found somewhere in life? Toushiro laughed at that, of course things like that didn't mean to exist in his own world.

He sank on the bed, what other plan on getting out of here could be used? Ryo was away for the day, the security in the house had tightened, but only to keep an eye on who came in and out of the grounds. The personal guard was no where in sight; did this have a purpose? Closing his eyes shut, only wishes continued to run rampant inside of his head, until a strange sound came from the hall.

"Wait, you can't enter!" The maids were screaming. The scrambling of feet could be heard, grunts of pain and cries came.

In instinct, he pulled out the sharp katana from underneath his bed. Footsteps could now be heard getting closer to the door of his room, Toushiro knew that perhaps this was the battle that he had awaited for so long now from the enemy. The hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood up, goose-bumps trembled across his body and eyes dilated slightly. The door burst open, the hinges squeaked in protest and a figure stood there clad in nothing but a black jumpsuit--the whole espionage shit was getting tiring.

"Who in the hell are you?" Toushiro asked, taking his stance with the sword. Those sharp golden eyes stared at him, they could easily mislead anyone though on thinking something along the lines of death, but he knew better.

"So, you're the Hitsugaya Toushiro?" The woman spoke, almost a teasing undertone was very present. She didn't seem particularly fearful, not when there was no weapon in her hands. "A sword? Honestly little boy, you're far too early on using such tool against me." In a flash, Toushiro laid across the room and the sword had slipped away across the floor.

"You want to kill me that badly for Momo? Fine, just do it." He stood up, grunting as the sharp pain from his ribs came. Obviously, that punch had been extremely violent and there were consequences to be suffering from it.

The woman laughed, "I haven't come here to kill you for the sake of that girl. No, you're coming with me."

"Right, what do you want from me then?" His eyes never leaving the strange woman. It was impossible to tell though what purpose this was having.

"You're no fun." She scoffed, pulling out a walky-talky from the back of her pockets. "Oi, Kisuke! I got the Dragon, I'm ready to take him at the back…is it clear?"

The static played for a second, before another voice answered. "Of course my dear, I'm terribly sorry for those men. I think that my little helpers went a bit overboard."

"You hired them, so there goes the next big check. Get the car ready, the little dragon is about to leave his hatching place." She turned to look at the white haired young man. He was glaring at her, but wasn't doing anything. "Don't like the reference? Want me to compare you to a little duck, sounds cute and it would be fitting for a child like yourself."

"No, the reference I could careless about," Toushiro stared at the hand that was gripping tightly at the collar of his shirt. "Though, I would appreciate if you didn't kill me before getting me out of here for whatever reason it is that you've come to take me out of my 'hatching place'".

"That could be a problem, come on." The woman dragged him out of the room and down the hall.

The mansion was extremely big, so many rooms and so many halls that weren't even used--it was unnecessary living inside of it. The high living didn't do much for anything, getting what you wanted easily came and went while creating problems along the way. Toushiro had learned that since those early days, there was no one that he could play with or spend time with because they were always so busy--it had been a lonely childhood. Having to run around the halls was going back to the lonely days.

"Yourichi, hurry up…" Urahara's voice came from the walky-talky. "Use the other exit, the Eye has arrived suddenly--damn what a nice car."

Yourichi groaned, pulling Hitsugaya down another hall and down a pair of stairs. So, he was running along with the famous spy, Urahara Yourichi. Exactly how in the hell did they end up here? There was no time to question, suddenly they appeared at the back yard of the mansion and a car was awaiting for them. The blond man sitting at the driver's seat wore a strange bucket-like stripped hat.

"My, Hitsugaya-kun finally comes to accompany us." He smiled at him, as Yourichi pushed him inside of the car. "Terribly sorry for the bizarre rescue mission, but glamorous can't happen at the moment. Lets go!"

The car sped off down the street, no one saw absolutely nothing.

* * *

_Sighs, too lazy to actually write a bunch of stuff here. Here's the update that I have been slacking off on 'cos of various reasons; the main one is the fact that staying locked inside the house is getting extremely boring, but sadly I'm forced on staying inside most of the time--it sucks. The story is going into a different direction compare to what I originally thought about, but really, its better that it changes instead. A little bit of Renji on here--so I enjoyed writing about him. Urahara and Yourichi are up to--well whatever the hell it is that they are doing. And, I have no other excuse as how this chapter turned out like! Thanks to those who reviewed and supporting this story--thank you very much! Also, welcome to the new readers! Its great that my story, despite of how much stuff is happening, is being read. If you have questions, please IM with details or just comments. Blah, blah...well I'm evading the flu and trying to get the creative juices to get to work again...well I think that the drill is very clear! Hit that button! Hope that those of you who live in areas where the nasty virus is being spread around; just make sure that you take precaution and stay safe! I'm out! -bleedingxinxspace_


	9. The 30 Day Policy

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach or any of its characters, or else I wouldn't be drowning on the 9 exams I do. I don't support my economy class--boring!

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

"_Happiness: We rarely feel it._

_I would buy it, beg it, steal it,_

_Pay in coins of dripping blood_

_For this one transcendent good._"

-Amy Lowell

_Countryside after countryside, the mounds of greenery and the thick forests were getting irritating to look at because there was literally nothing around them; except for the mountains. Urahara was humming softly the song playing on the radio, his face hidden behind that horrid stripped hat and continuing to swerve like an idiot for no reason at all. Yourichi was reading something conspicuously, as if trying to find something to do to not pay close attention to the boredom that simply dragged on. But, Toushiro was growing tired of whatever the hell was going on. _

_To be more precise, his hands were tied up--after a straining of curses from the woman sitting besides him and a hard hold on his writs--not the best trip in the world. The clock on the radio displayed that it was a little after seven in the afternoon, perfect because the wedding was about to take place and he wouldn't be no where in sight. What would people say though? His father would perhaps worry for simply a second, but what would happen afterwards though? Simple questioning was keeping Toushiro from looking at the mountains, but it was hard to concentrate entirely at the same time. _

"_Where in the hell are you taking me?" He asked. It was the first time saying anything aloud since his 'snatching'. _

"_So eager on wanting to return?" Yourichi was the one that answered, clicking her tongue in the process. "Not at the moment little child, just wait a bit longer for your answer." _

"_I've been waiting since eleven in the morning," he muttered, glaring at her momentarily. "And I have yet to find out why your--whatever he is--continues to swerve like a damn idiot." _

_The exotic woman laughed, "Kisuke was born with that defect." _

"_I resent that, thank you!" The blond haired man snapped. "Besides, you agreed to marry me in the first place. Deal with it." _

"_Right. Though, isn't that what you wished for, Hitsugaya-san?" Her cat like eyes narrowed dangerously, the look of a hunter towards its prey. _

"_Kidnapping doesn't come into the top of the things I'll like to do in my life." Toushiro said. "And yes, it makes me rather content knowing that I won't marry tonight." It was the truth because there was no way to have survived in the night, especially after hearing that his death had been guaranteed by Hinamori Momo's father just to get the power that his father had. _

_Rain began to pour out of no where, the sky was semi-dark with the thick grey clouds hovering just above them. The road seemed to stretch on forever, almost like there hadn't been a point of beginning or an ending to it. The sleek road proved to be difficult, Urahara cursed under his breath so many times and would slow down for a few seconds to look at a map, but Yourichi seemed to be completely calm about it. Toushiro continued to wonder where they were heading, the rope holding his arms together was starting to irritate his skin and his stomach roared that it hadn't been fed. _

"_How much longer?" Yourichi asked, peering from her book to look at her husband. _

"_Another left turn and the house would be there--it is hard to find in the middle of a storm." He grinned, turning left into a cobblestone path that lead them into a thick forest. "I'm sure Ukitake-san won't mind our intrusion." His tone was slightly suspicious, which made his wife groan at the lack of informing the man before hand. _

"_Always the idiot, forgetting to call him about this!" Her tone changed dramatically. The book in her hand suddenly made contact with Urahara's head, making him hiss in pain. "I'm sure that he's already being informed by the lot of them--you better pray Urahara Kisuke."_

_Toushiro rolled his eyes--this was just one of those pathetic comedic attempts at a kidnapping. As the car went farther and farther down the road, a large mansion came to view. His teal eyes widened, it was the same mansion that which everyone always stared at in awe on those magazines; the historical house that had been used for many music videos, famous American movies and local ones. Most notably though was that the man that lived inside it was the very praised Japanese writer, Ukitake Jyuushiro. _

_+…_

+--The 30 Day Policy--+

Days and nights continued to prolong, time moved just the same with each single day and nothing but desperation seem to run high. No one, absolutely no one had dared to go and search all the world to find Hitsugaya Toushiro; not even his own father. Each single news cast would continue to ask off people to help, each single magazine article poured sorrowful pleas and everything was being thrown out of proportion. Hinamori Momo slammed the magazine with her ex-fiancee's face on the floor, anger wasn't even pouring out of her this time around, just simple frustration.

The bulge in her stomach had started to show, which prompted the early check-out from her house in the middle of the night on the very same night of her supposed wedding. There was no reason to stay in a home that no affection towards her existed, where it was not save to stay at because of who her father was--the very danger that her child would be exposed to. Spending the past month alone had allowed some thinking, some time to realize the very thing that Kyoraku-sensei had explained so long ago, but that would take much longer on grasping the meaning.

"Momo-chan, just let it go." Inoue Orihime appeared from the kitchen with a tray. The Inoue noodles had been made for the very special day, not that there really was nothing to celebrate at all, but Orihime believed that there should be some cheer for the young mother to be.

"Inoue, I can't." She stated, sighing as her eyes stared down at the street. "Not…when things shouldn't end easily like that. I love Toushiro so much, it just hurts to think that he would disappear like that."

The red headed woman sighed, it wasn't such a pleasant conversation. "Momo-chan, maybe it is best that you let yourself forget him completely." Suspecting well that it could never be like that, not when the young woman was extremely attached to Hitsugaya Toushiro.

"A month has gone by, only that simple note that which arrived for me." Momo recalled briefly, reading the words that only could express how he regretted nothing or leaving like that at all. "At least he's not…" Her thought trailed off.

Orihime had known the entire truth since the very day that he had disappeared, after all, it paid well being friends with most of them for so long. Hitsugaya Toushiro was no where near Karakura, no one would actually find him because there was tight security around where he stayed at, plus he wasn't allowed to get out much into town.

"I should go," she stood up and grabbed her purse. "Are you going to the Aizen party tonight? Perhaps I might see you there."

"Must attend, Aizen-san sent his invitation and I can't refuse it." The dreamy look that appeared on her face was slightly odd, Orihime had to shake her head thinking that it might be her eyes playing tricks again.

"That's fantastic, I'll see you there then." The red headed woman opened the door and walked out.

That was a new topic in town, everyone speaking about the party like nothing else just because it was a contribution for the changes in Japan. The business world was going into a transition of new policies, new laws and new ideas that had been tossed around for so many years already; but never quite being put to work on a workplace. The famous architect was simply throwing it for the benefit of the other famous businessmen, and because he had been quite direct on designing the buildings for the large companies that held Japan at a very good spot in the economy of the world.

The party was going to be held at the famous Hollow Plaza Hotel, the one owned by a private man known to everyone as Ulquiorra. People rarely saw the man, though managing the famous hotel along with the famous band, the Arrancars, might put quite a busy schedule. The invitations had been sent out weeks ago, every single magazine tried to get a cover story on their own regarding the party, but also because the very famous planner in Karakura was in charge. The brown haired young woman had read the article so many times already: the way that which Kurosaki Karin had displayed herself on the front cover of Vogue surely struck a cord.

Kurosaki Karin was every guy's dream: the long legs, the perfect dark hair and eyes, skin shinning like silk and strong for that matter. Her work was praised by the entire world, parties couldn't be done over the top without her because everyone wanted to have their parties being administrated by her. Momo wondered why everyone cared so much, in truth, she believed for her to be a disgusting bitch. Of course, Karin could easily strut the fact that her brother was Kurosaki Ichigo and that her sister-in-law was related to Kuchiki Byakuya, so many ties to famous people.

"You're not special." She muttered to herself. Though, there was no need to worry about her because she wasn't important in the first place.

…

The sun bathed the large bedroom, the pure white curtains billowed with the breeze of May, the smell of the flowers from the outside filled the room and made it feel peaceful. The room was big, the large windows could easily detailed a rather Western style home; yet the furniture still kept the traditional Japan inside it. The tanami floor shinned relentlessly, the walls were painted crème with swirls of white on the background looking almost like delicate silk. There were paintings hanging on its walls, other Japanese ornaments also decorated the walls.

In the large king-size bed laid a couple sleeping, their bodies wrapped around royal blue silk sheets. A small boy sat in between the two, his teal eyes staring at the room and gently flapping his arms to wake up the two people. Karin opened her eyes first, feeling the sudden heat come to her from the hot morning and got up. Yoshiro held his arms up for his mother to pick him up, gladly and with a smile, Karin kissed her son on the forehead. A few more seconds, her captivating gaze turned down to the white haired man that was breathing softly still.

"Want to wake him up?" She asked, turning towards the sleeping man and smiling. Her son giggled, bending down to touch his father's face. Toushiro mumbled something and opened his bright eyes, his son stared at him with a smile.

"I wasn't dreaming after all," He spoke on his sleepy voice. "What time is it?"

"About eight or earlier, I can't be sure." Karin smiled at him. "Yoshiro woke me up--so it would be hard to get back to sleep." The white haired young man simply smiled, caressing her face and taking his son from his mother's grasp.

For a month now, things simply had slipped away with time and moving right along as if everyone lived inside a dream. Toushiro liked waking up next to Karin, seeing her smile in the morning and having his son laugh was the most amazing thing in the entire world. A lot of events had taken place though, many that if people from the outside were to suddenly enter they would find it quite strange--almost like being stuck on a labyrinth without knowing where to go. It was mind-boggling for sure, Toushiro was already accustomed to it just like Karin, and he didn't complain anymore like in the first few weeks upon his arrival at the large mansion. It was a happy time in life, almost as if nothing could ruin it.

"I have to leave early today, there's the Aizen party that I still need to assist on." She said, stretching out her arms and yawning. "Toushiro, you've got to take care of Yoshiro until I get back--which I highly doubt its going to be early."

He stared at her, not liking much the idea of her being completely alone for so long. "Is it that necessary to stay that long?"

The dark haired young woman got up from the bed, pulling down her camisole and rummaging thru the drawer for clean hosiery.

"Not really, but Aizen invited the entire Kurosaki family--therefore I have a duty to do," she ran a hand thru her hair. "Besides, it'll give you yet another long day with our son. Yoshiro really likes to spend time with you."

Yoshiro was staring at his father deeply, his hands touching his father's face and giggling. Toushiro really liked that though, spending his entire locked up days with his wonderful son and trying to form a much more stronger bond since he had been missing practically a year of his life. Except there existed some type of fear if they were suddenly taken away from him, the beginning of a nightmare perhaps.

"You will call if something happens, right?" His teal eyes gazed hard at her dark eyes. Karin could only nod at him, the simple thing that could be done seeing that his gaze was intense.

The table in the dinning room was full already: Ichigo, Rukia, Kazuki, Koji, Ukitake, Urahara, Yourichi and Yuzu; who had arrived the previous night after a long stay in South Asia. Karin took her usual seat, in front of Ichigo, and grabbed the pancakes that had been made for the morning and a cup of orange juice. The dirty look she threw at the orange juice made Ichigo arched his brow, of course, Karin had never enjoyed much orange juice for breakfast after she had started college but couldn't possibly drink coffee now.

"Good morning, Karin-chan and Hitsugaya-kun." The long white haired man greeted the two. "Oh, good morning to you too Yoshiro-kun." His smile was very merry, the gentle aurora around him made Karin feel pleasant inside--it must be a good ability to calm people so easily with a smile so early in the morning.

The two of them greeted Ukitake back. The table became quite cheerful as they began their usual conversation, it was a good atmosphere in the early morning hours. The Kurosaki boys tugged onto their father as he was leaving for work, they were literally crying because they wanted to tag along with him too. Rukia had tried to stop her two sons from going along, but Ichigo had decided to let them come instead before a disastrous argument would follow.

Ukitake followed along too, picking up his brief case and a new manuscript from his table. He abide everyone a 'good bye', a gentle smile before shutting the door behind him as he left the dinning area and off to work. He hadn't become bothered by everyone suddenly coming to live in his house, actually, accepting them had been one good offer because it seemed that the man was lonely with no family around. Though, Urahara and Yourichi only stayed on few occasions since they were busy making someone else's life miserable, but always seemed to return.

"Shit! I'm going to be late for work--on a damn Sunday." Karin stood up, pushing away her plate and drinking the last bit of the orange juice. Quickly kissing Yoshiro's forehead and a kiss to Toushiro, she waved and left the dinning area.

Toushiro let out a long sigh, it was impossible to be happy that Karin had taken up a big job and was actually doing good. Besides that, there was danger to think about and worrying about it constantly--it was more like a habit that was hard to push one's self from. Rukia saw that exasperated look on the white haired man's face and smiled a bit. She had begun to notice that he worried over her sister-in-law, he worried more now that she was pregnant with another child and Rukia knew that too.

"It'll be okay, Hitsugaya-dono." She smiled at him, holding Amaya against her. "Karin is strong and can take care of herself, so don't worry over her."

He let out another sigh, "That's asking for the impossible." Worrying about her safety was always at the top of the list, always wishing that he could watch over her each single day.

"She's right, Karin-chan never appears weak in front of others." Yuzu spoke for the very first time, it seemed still unreal that she had come back just for a party like that. "The family will be going tonight to the party, giving us time to watch her carefully so no harm comes to her."

Toushiro nodded simply at Karin's sister. Yuzu was gentle, smart and extremely creative since she was a chef in an Italian restaurant, but was doing a training job in South Asia for a few months. He wouldn't even imagine how Yuzu could easily see beyond, never judging or being completely negative about her older sister's relationship with him and the fact that he had done so many bad things in the past. Though, if the world was forgiving like her, then what balance would there exist? None.

"I should get going, I promised to visit Inoue-san about Franco-san." Yuzu stood up. Her summer dress glimmering with the light on the room and her hair cascading down her shoulders. "I'll return before leaving for the party. Have a lovely day."

"She looks so much like Masaki-sama." Rukia commented suddenly, sipping the tea left on her cup.

"No one ever speaks of her much, why is that?" He asked vaguely, wondering slightly for the longest time why none of them spoke about the beloved Masaki.

The raven haired woman sighed, a smile creeping up into her face as if remembering a joke of some sort or as if there had been something bad that which she had done. Toushiro cocked his eyebrow, Yoshiro simply stared at nothing.

"Because recalling so many memories of my mother-in-law can have a negative effect on everyone." She was rocking Amaya in her arms, looking down at her with a smile. "Ichigo doesn't like to speak about her very much, mainly since he keeps on blaming himself for her death. Karin and Yuzu don't remember her that well, only they know that she was the most wonderful woman in the world. I loved her like a mother too."

The silence soon followed again, the left over breakfast turned cold and that made Rukia bid her farewells for the day. It wasn't so easy working for her sister's firm, despite the fact that she was talented and extremely well know around town for being a lawyer--though she only kept the lawyer thing hidden so well now that she was a mother again.

Toushiro looked down at his son, who was simply looking at him with an offhanded expression that spilled nothing. "Lets get you cleaned." He smiled, wiping some food from his cherub face and getting up from the table.

+…

The preparations had been taken for nearly two weeks already, all invitations were handed out on their appropriate time and everything was done. The entire media was already in front of the line of the blue carpet as the guests came inside the Hollow Plaza Hotel--the place to be for the night. All of the guests were arriving, from famous politicians to famous musicians; everyone simply wanted to be there for the party that was being thrown by the famous Aizen Sousuke. Karin kept on walking back and forth, a clipboard in her hands, a tiny ear bud on her ear and her body suddenly felt sticky. The guest list had been done wrong by the assistants that Aizen himself had assigned, and she was now on duty to see who was invited and who really needed to get the hell out.

"Kurosaki-san, you should really stop walking back and forth like that." A newbie assistant named Nel appeared. Her green hair was done in a tight bun, she was dressed in a classic black number and she was also holding a clipboard.

"Why did they had to hire incompetent idiots to do a fucking guest list!" She was actually furious, after having to deal with the highly annoying crowd. The dark haired woman rubbed her temples and breathed in, then exhaling. "Nel, do me a favour and take this. I'm feeling a bit sick at the moment…" Her words trailed away and she handed the clipboard to the green haired woman.

The dance floor to the ballroom was already at full swing, all of the guests were chatting happily and drinking to the merry occasion as the DJ played the music. Karin saw familiar faces as she crossed the room, quickly wanting to vanish from sight before completely spilling her sick on the floor, a ghastly sight it would be and people would start to make up stories about that. Besides, no one knew about her pregnancy at all.

People watched as Kurosaki Karin crossed the floor, holding onto her stomach and a hand on her mouth looking extremely ill. Renji and Tatsuki were dancing so close together, when they saw her cross in front of them so quickly and allowing her red fluttery dress billow behind her. Renji didn't bother to question, especially since the last time he had offended her; Karin had nearly beaten him to pieces--the only other third woman that could do that.

Ichigo was holding onto Rukia, both were slow dancing despite the fast song as his eyes trailed to watch his baby sister cross the room and looking like she was about to puke. There was no need to continue hiding the fact that she was pregnant, not as the paleness in her skin was visible and if possible, that paleness alone would beat the one from Ulquiorra. Though, there was nothing to be done at all since there was no need to rise rumours from the guests tonight.

The lights bounced off in the room, everyone marvelled at how great the ballroom had been decorated and how the tables were decorated simple, but looked elegant. Photographers were already doing their rounds, snapping the famous faces around, the single ones, the couples and everything that they could find. Everyone had gotten rather excited when the hot model, Matsumoto Rangiku walked arm in arm with Ichimaru Gin. The party was already a big hit, but Karin really didn't feel the need to praise her genius work on the party as she walked back to her post for the night.

Except as she attempted on getting back, people seemed to be slowly gathering themselves around the entrance, the faint flashes of the cameras bounced off the walls and everything was set in motion. She tried to push herself amongst the crowd, carefully trying not to bump too badly against them, but problems couldn't possibly be taking place so early in the party.

"He's back!" Someone said. People were already on their cell phones muttering in so many other different languages and everything.

"So, where in the hell has he been?" Another person gasped.

"His fiancée is here, how come they didn't come together?"

"Hitsugaya is here, I can't believe it!"

"Karin!" Her dark eyes soon found the figure of her beloved white haired man in the middle of the circle. His hair was windswept, his eyes looking slightly worried and he was huffing profoundly. Though, the room suddenly went silent, everyone's eyes followed the supposed run-away-kidnapped white haired man cross the floor and embracing the delicate figure of the dark haired woman. Flashes sounded like scattered rain droplets on a summer day, everyone was completely shocked and unable to process whatever was going on properly.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ichigo had managed to push himself, then pulled Toushiro away from his sister. "Are you a complete idiot or are you trying to mark yourself as one? You damn fool." His stony brother-in-law had already sent all his security (God knows where they appeared from) to pull people back and trying to protect Hitsugaya and Karin from the cameras.

Tomorrow would be a complete disaster, the party was completely ruined now and people would only talk about the strange turn of events.

"Shiro-chan?" Momo appeared out of no where. Eyes were wide at the sight of Toushiro holding tightly onto Karin, plus the fact that Karin's brother was looking extremely annoyed for some reason. "W-what's the m-meaning of this?"

All eyes were on the four people in the middle.

* * *

_Sighs, well I made everyone wait for so long now, but school work really piled up really bad after missing 3 damn weeks for that stupid virus going around. Dreadful, plus I had exams this week and it was another dreadful crap. So, please excuse the lack of creativity on this chapter and the fact that its rushing, but that's because all of my creativity and ideas were sort of burst due to school. Sorry for the grammar and spelling mistakes, but I'm slightly tired. Anyways, thank you for the reviews, favourites, alerts and all of that good stuff. As always, you people are amazing and the best in the entire world. Well, what's going to happen in the next chapter? Karin and Momo meet for the very first time (in the story that is). Gasp, Toushiro appeared! Well, not sure on what will happen. Also, who in the hell is the father of Momo's baby? Err, good question right? Tune in for the next chapter though--I'm reaching the 10th chapter--gotta do a less depressing chapter--mm! Off to sleep and start off a new day tomorrow--until next chapter! You know what to do now! Good night/morning/afternoon (from whichever place in the world you're reading this from!)--bleedingxinxspace_


	10. Absolutely Nothing

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or any of its characters, just the bloody plot for this story. Curse the depths of Hell for keeping me there, actually I am no where near that one but whatever!

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

"Nada que pueda perder, nada que no pueda ser.

Algo que te alivie, algo que me cure."

-ZOE

+--+

_The house was completely empty, quite literally, only that the house maids and other personal stayed to run the house. In spite of that, Toushiro felt completely annoyed by the swallowing silence that continued to grow, it continued to become extremely consuming that it was just eating his mind away. Thus, he could only bring himself to think of something else and keep his mind so busy; except that it was proving to be unsuccessful at it. Yoshiro started to cry suddenly, his small arms stretching out for him to pick him up. _

_Toushiro looked closely at him, the little pink tint on his cheeks was present--did children usually have such tint? As he made to pick him up, Yoshiro's cries got louder and his hands were suddenly opening and closing almost like he was desperate to say something. _

"_What's wrong?" He asked his son, picking him up and trying to make him stop crying. "Are you hungry? Though I think we just ate a while ago, but maybe you wanted more eh?" His teal eyes stared at the black haired boy, his own eyes stared back at him, except that he continued to wail uncontrollably. _

_It seemed so strange though, almost like nothing in the world would prepare a person properly for the cries of a child, even though Yoshiro was never the one to cry so much. He pressed his chin against his son's forehead; it felt far too warm then normal. _

"_Damn it, I think you are sick." Toushiro laid him back on the blanket that was spread on the floor. In panic, he picked up the phone and dialled Karin's number in hope that she would answer. "Pick up the phone, pick it up…Karin? Karin?" _

"_You have reached me, but as stating the most damn obvious thing I can't pick up the phone. Leave your name and number, though if it's important you'll look for me instead." Karin's voice finished at the tone. _

_The maid entered the living room carrying a tray. She stopped suddenly, all the contents on the tray fell to the floor as she rushed over to Yoshiro. _

"_Hitsugaya-sama…what's wrong with him?" She picked him up, touching his forehead and cheeks. "He's running a fever, you must take him to the hospital." _

"_I am highly aware of that, but I am trying to reach his mother." He ran a frustrated hand thru his hair. When he needed Karin the most she had to be away, and he needed her for this. "Shit, take him in a car to the hospital while I go look for her." _

_The maid nodded simply without saying anything, rushing to pick up the blanket on the couch to cover Yoshiro up and walking fast out of the living room. As she rushed out, Toushiro heard her shout at everyone about his son being sick and in need to be taken to the doctor. Though, there was no more time to waste either. _

_As he pulled out of the driveway, it no longer mattered that he was breaking rules and that people would be worried completely. The street lights moved by fast, his foot stepped rather fiercely against the gas pedal and quite literally ran so many red lights, but that didn't matter either because it was important to get to Karin and go to their son. Though, the traffic was growing slower and slower, coming into an abrupt end. _

"_Damn it!" He shouted, hitting the steering wheel. There was no time to waste at the moment, life and death quite literally was playing into this game. _

_The Hollow Plaza was only a few blocks away, the traffic wouldn't really make much movement for the time being and the clock was running. He put the car on reverse, going to the parking spot by the park that was nearby and simply turning the ignition off. It was a bother, his long legs dragged him across the park and into the other side of the street. The lights on the outside of the hotel moved around, the music could be heard from the very inside and there was so much security around the place. _

"_Name and number sir?" The security guy stopped him. _

"_I don't have time to waste on that, where's Kurosaki Karin?" Toushiro looked at the man. _

"_If you are not on the list, then you are not allowed to go in." He eyed him suspiciously. _

_Toushiro wanted to beat the man, but it was illegal to do such thing. People were passing by, the smiles and laughter was even annoying with the despair that was running so thick inside of him. "I need to see Kurosaki Karin!" _

"_My, my…Toushiro-kun?" A familiar laughter caught his attention. He turned his eyes to the figure of Aizen Sousuke standing at the very top of the steps, a brandy glass on his hands and his cell phone on the other hand. "I did not know that you were in Japan, Ryo mentioned that you had gone out of the country." _

_Hitsugaya didn't particularly like the man seeing that he was so perfect, a little too perfect for his taste and there was some danger hinting in the saint-like figure that Aizen was. Though, perhaps this might help him get inside and look for Karin. _

"_Let me cut to the chase here, I need to get inside," he muttered, glaring at the guard. "but your guard doesn't let me in. Is Kurosaki Karin anywhere here?" _

_Aizen nodded, taking a sip from his brandy and smiling broadly while looking at the sky. "I tell you where she's at, if you only do me a favour." _

"_Just spit it out, I don't have time to waste on the little chit-chat here." Stress was building up to the extreme. _

"_Always the one to cut to the chase." The brown haired man chuckled. "Of course, are you the father of Hinamori Momo's child?" _

_Toushiro stopped in mid-step, looking at the man before him and not comprehending what he had just said. Momo was pregnant? He would never lay a hand on that woman, not now or ever in his life. He shook his head, Aizen was glad that the young boy wasn't the one to have done that to the beautiful girl. Of course, he was a powerful man who had his sources and the one who would get the people he needed to continue being the greatest. _

"_Good. Hitsugaya-san, you wouldn't mind if I make her my wife now?" _

"_No, I wouldn't give a damn about it. Now, kindly quit asking so many damn questions because I need to find Karin." _

_Aizen watched him go inside, running almost like life depended on it. He was never the man to pry on someone else's life, but the young white haired boy was interesting since he was always the one to keep so many secrets. He had known for a while now that Hitsugaya Toushiro was already a father, Kurosaki Karin was the lucky woman to have given the Hitsugaya heir a child for the future of the Hitsugaya Company. Aizen wouldn't bring himself to mess with that, Hitsugaya-Kurosaki problems wouldn't end well, especially since Kurosaki Ichigo was already part of the Kuchiki noble clan--never a family to mess with. _

_He raised his glass, "Cheers!". _

_+…_

+--Absolutely Nothing--+

Everyone had stopped moving, their eyes were locked at the centre where Hitsugaya Toushiro, Kurosaki Karin, Hinamori Momo and Kurosaki Ichigo stood at. Their eyes were glued, almost like a bride seeing her dress or someone holding the most precious thing in the world in their hands--it looked almost like that. The press had stopped taking pictures, everyone's ears were paying close attention to the words being said. Karin and Toushiro stared at each other, Momo was crying and saying mundane things to both of them--it was a disaster already forming on a beautiful night like that.

"W-why are you with her?" Momo asked, tears streaming down her cheeks. She felt betrayed that he would appear like that after being missing for a month, wrapping himself around a woman that she had a great dislike for and watching him look at her in a different way.

"Toushiro, what an awful time you have." Ichigo muttered, thankful too that Byakuya's security was putting a barrier between them and everyone else. "Couldn't you wait a little longer?"

The white haired young man glared at him, his arm tightening a bit more and kept his stance. Ichigo knew that this wouldn't end well, but by the look on Toushiro's face there seemed something wrong going on that was in need to be told. Though, his fierce amber eyes stared at the young woman crying like there would be no end at all; it was going to be an unpleasant night.

"There's no time to waste." Toushiro muttered quickly, looking down at Karin. "We need to leave, now!"

"You shouldn't have come out like this, not tonight." Karin expressed, holding onto Toushiro and completely forgetting about Hinamori Momo. "Why exactly are you here?"

"Stop holding her like that!" Momo shouted, rushing over to them and pulling Toushiro out of Karin's embrace. "You fucking bitch, get your hands away from him!"

"Hinamori, stay out of it." He pulled himself out of her grip, reaching out for Karin again and looking at her.

Momo struggled to keep him close, knowing well that this battle had been over so long ago and that there was no way that her Shiro-chan would come back to her again. The way in which he stared at her told everything--he was so deeply in love that it was sick, almost too sick to stare at the two look that way. They were far too perfect for their good, yet she couldn't bring herself to lose like that in front of the other woman.

"It's--" He stopped short.

"Why are you doing this to me?" She interrupted, tears continuing to stream down her face. "You left like that without caring for me…why?"

"Shut up! Will you?" Karin shouted at her. "What is it?" She turn her attention back to Toushiro.

"You damn whore, how dare you!" Momo sobbed, looking victimized by her harsh words.

"Hinamori, just shut the hell up. Please." Toushiro muttered, closing his eyes and opening them again. It seemed impossible to gather his thoughts, not when he worried over his son. "Its Yoshiro, he's in the hospital."

Ichigo, who was paying close attention looked at him. His nephew was in the hospital? "What happen to him?" Everyone wondered who they were referring to. "What happen to my nephew?"

"My son is in the hospital?" Karin whispered, tears seemed to be forming in her eyes. "Why…since when?"

"A while ago, he was running a fever." He answered, lowering his head in an apologetic way. "I was trying to call you, but you didn't pick up. He's on his way to the hospital with the maid, I told her that we would arrive soon."

She simply nodded, forgetting the entire world behind them and the woman that despised her the most. It didn't matter though, the world was meaningless now that her son was in the hospital fighting for his life and she rushed passed the crowd. She could faintly hear Momo shouting, her lover shouting at her regarding their son and the cameras flashing across her face.

Everyone left behind whispered to themselves, the heir to the Hitsugaya Company was a father already and the famous Kurosaki Karin was the mother of said child--no one could completely grasp that at all. Ichigo did not bother to chase after them, it would be futile to argue against the reason as to why Hitsugaya had come out of the house and showed his face into public after so long. There was no need to say anything, not a single word at all.

"We should go, Ichigo." Rukia appeared, holding out her hand for him to take. "They might need us."

"I know, lets go." The orange haired man grabbed her hand, smirking a bit and leading the way to the car.

…

The streetlights were like a blur, nothing in the world seemed to prepare anyone for such worry and it was eating all other emotions away. Hospitals were never compelling to the senses, they were ironic places since life was born there and death came to claim other lives as well--it was never a good experience. As soon as Karin and Toushiro arrived at the hospital, they signed all forms and tried to find the doctor that was taking care of their son. The maid had been crying, calming herself down when they showed up and decided to stay.

She wanted to see her son, to hold him and comfort him; it had been so wrong to have disappeared from his sight for a few hours. What kind of mother was that? Leaving her child behind to go and work, there was not even a need to work, but it had been a favour asked by a man that her family knew. Pride shouldn't even exist, it should never become the sole reason to out do one's self for the sake of keeping a good name intact. Anger coursed thru her veins, her fist made contact with the wall--not hard, but with enough strength to cause pain.

"Stop it, don't hurt yourself." Toushiro held her arm back, as she was going to attempt a second punch at the wall. Karin looked at him, anger and sadness flowing in her expression--it was never something that could ever be seen before. "He's going to make it, please stop that."

She sighed, letting one of her tears slip away and burying her face on his chest. Having him near was comforting, it wouldn't have been great if she were to face this alone and was really glad that he knew about Yoshiro. Tears would never suffice to the feeling that she feared and was overjoyed with, she feared of losing both her lover and her son, but she also was overjoyed that they were all together at the moment.

"I'm sorry, I should've answered." She said, fighting the tears back. "I left my phone in my purse, after almost losing it while running to the bathroom to throw up."

"No, it's understandable. Speaking of which, when is the next check up?" Karin sighed in relief, there was a serious need to change the subject.

"Next week, I'll be about a month and a half." She put her hand on her stomach, there was no bump that would be visible enough for anyone to really fully tell that she was pregnant at all. He smiled, holding her close to him.

An hour slipped away, the Kurosaki family had gathered around the hospital and were waiting for the doctor. What seemed days and nights, the doctor appeared holding a smile on her face.

"Unohana-sensei?" Ichigo stood up abruptly.

The said woman smiled, acknowledging everyone in the room and looking at the main couple. "Yoshiro-kun will be fine. He suffered a fever, but nothing that should be worried some for you Hitsugaya-kun."

Everyone sighed in relief, Karin hugged Toushiro and kissed him in the cheek. "Thank you, Unohana-sensei."

"It was my pleasure, everything for the family. I suggest that everyone rests for the night, but I'll like to keep him here for the night for observation only." She indicated, seeing that everyone looked extremely worried.

"We will, thank you." Toushiro bowed. "First, we would like to see him."

Unohana-sensei smiled, indicating them to follow her to see the young child. It was never rare to see young couples, but never the ones that came with family and looked completely united. Yoshiro was asleep, he seemed so peaceful and was resting to get well. Karin grasped his small hand, feeling it warm and a sign that proved that he was still here with her.

"I wonder what will happen tomorrow." She said suddenly. "People will start to talk about us, about our son and perhaps about Hinamori."

He sighed deeply. "That doesn't matter, I am simply worried about Hinamori Jun and my father." Karin simply stared at him, there was other things to worry about as well after tonight. "Though, lets focus on our son first." She nodded.

+…

Everything was completely empty, silent as Ryo stared out the window of his bedroom and the cup of brandy on his hand getting warm by the minute. A smile spread around his face, there was no need to fear or worry about anything at the moment--especially since his dearest son was still alive and was well. Hinamori Jun was almost there, so near on grasping the things that he desired for so long now, but it would not suffice enough to get there.

"Always remaining so silent, Ryo." A woman's voice claimed the silence.

"Always that one to pry, Yourichi." Said man turned around, she stepped out from the shadows and smiling. Those golden eyes glowed even on the darkest night skies, there always held a mystery to them, but also she was always the one to joke about a million things. "What is it that you come to say to me tonight?"

Yourichi smirked, propping herself on the chest by the end of the bed in the room. Perhaps there were so many things to say at the moment, comforting news of the sort or something else…she didn't know. Urahara had decided on this, joining the powerful man on whatever strange quest he was seemed completely reasonable; though at the same time it was absurd.

"I've come in free will to join you, my dear husband will too." She smiled, twisting a strand of her long hair between her fingers. "We are completely aware that you know about your son, am I mistaken?"

The white haired man stared at her with no emotion, hiding expressions was a talent that took so many years to fully get it right. "My grandson seems like a happy child, is he well?"

The woman laughed. "Of course, your son is his father and his mother is a strong woman." Ryo smirked, holding out his glass up in the air.

"Cheers to them then. Frankly, I'm starting to like that Kurosaki girl more and more." He commented. "A woman with a backbone, she's much more the better woman for my son."

"I've been trying to tell you that for so long, but then again, you always fail to listen." She said, crossing her legs now and sighing. "You have absolutely nothing to lose if your son marries Kurosaki Karin, Isshin would be rather pleased about it seeing that he continuously keeps saying that they make a good couple. I must agree on that too, if you keep them apart it will never end well."

"No, I would lose my son just like his mother. I would prefer if my grandson has a mother and a father." Ryo agreed, crossing his arms and staring out the window again. "Isshin has always been a good friend, he will understand that allowing them to get married so soon would be a horrid choice. Hinamori Jun will not rest, not since Aizen has decided on choosing Momo as his wife tonight."

Yourichi went silent, that had been a rather shocking announcement tonight after everything that had happen, and she wondered as to why he had done it tonight. The world went completely wild at that, the famous man wanted to marry a young woman while announcing that she was expecting his child--no one had seen that coming. Urahara had informed her that Jun hadn't taken well that, no one would mess with Aizen because he was a cunning man with power and brains; perhaps that would mark the end to his game.

"A man is not a man when he grows power hungry, it will come into an end." He opened the windows to allow the breeze to come in. "Continue keeping an eye on my son, that's the only favour I can ask of you two."

"If that's what you want, then I will not comply against your choice…" her voice trailed away. The door shut with a click, she was a fast woman.

Running away would never behold an answer to the problem, Ryo had known that for so long after taking the job that he had a the moment, but it was risking it staying in Japan much longer. There were to many lives at stake for this, Jun simply didn't not want to give up so easily and he would go far into it; it had gone far too long now and it needed to end. Thus, he had decided to resign his post in government and go to another country, maybe that would bring peace to his son's life.

He picked up the phone, dialling the number that which was already an imprint on his head. The ringing was solemn, but it was a choice that needed to be made for the sake of the rest.

"Moshi-moshi?" An older man's voice answered.

"Yamamoto-sensei?" Ryo replied, keep his eyes out the window.

"Hitsugaya? Do you know what time this is?" Yamamoto's voice was hard without meaning.

"I am terribly sorry sensei, but there's something that I wish to speak to you about." Losing such post meant nothing, it was not even important to say the least. "It regards my post in office, I would like to have someone else take it from me."

"You are not the one to make wise decisions, son. A difficult man like yourself is agile for this job, I can't find a replacement from day to night like this." Yamamoto expressed, coughing slightly in the background. "Why the sudden decision like this?"

"I have my reasons, personal ones that is. Sensei, I am terribly sorry to say this to you in a rush, but there's no time left." Ryo leaned against the railing of the balcony. "And, do not worry about a replacement. I've found myself a man that is completely reliable for the job, even much better then myself."

"Who might that be?"

"Ha-ha, you never change." The two of them fell into a brief silence. "Ah…that would be…Zaraki."

"Zaraki Kepachi?" Yamamoto's voice sounded shocked, almost like the man was trying to find a reasoning with that. "He never approved of us, thus he left the place. How did you manage to find him?"

Ryo laughed at that, he wasn't such a hard man to find. "Lets just say that I found him by accident, him and that adoptive daughter he has." He remembered that day still, it had been quite a sight. "He's perfect for the job, he gets my respect and my job. I am terribly sorry for having to do something like this. Good bye, Yamamoto-sensei." He ended the call.

…+

* * *

_A/N: Wow its been like centuries right, maybe much longer? I don't know, time just seemed to slip away rather quickly and I don't even know where in the hell to begin. Okay, firstly I am deeply sorry about not updating for so long now, but school really did get hectic that I didn't even know if I was breathing. Though, as of today my first semester is over, though I still have to return on the 14th to start final exams, but no classes--that's the good thing. Well, secondly this chapter is probably crap 'cos the ideas just didn't come to me, so hopefully this isn't so bad. The next chapter will be a little more happier--seeing that I am so in love--haha only joking about that. But it will be getting better for our star couple here--so that's about it. School sucks! Hope that you enjoy this very, very, very late update. Thank you for those who have been very patient for the update, for the comments and all that other good stuff. You know the rules! Off to start thinking about the next chapter!-bleedingxinxspace_


	11. Feeling of The Heart

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of its lovely characters, only I am able to afford this story 'cos I don't even get paid for it lol. Extra long chapter today. Run along and read--if possible :D

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

"Dame solo un beso

Que me alcance hasta morir

Como un vicio que me duele

Quiero mirarte a los ojos."

-ZOE

+--+

No one was able to explain it, it seemed almost a little too impossible to actually understand it and believe it. All the people involved in politics just found it completely shocking, no one would want to actually taste it and feel it because that wasn't possibly true. Except that the decision had been made, no one could interfere with the choice nor no one could make a change--it was just shock. The government building just continued to spread the news, no one was to know about it in the outside because everyone believed that he was just some famous guy that ran a hotel line and all the other lies that were made up to keep his life still.

Everyone saw him walk out of his office, box in hands with all of the trinkets that he would bring, and simply looking peaceful about it. In truth, the only sad thing was that he had simply decided to make such drastic decision for the sake of keeping his son alive. That was another touchy subject for everyone, finding out so many things in one single night was overwhelming to say the least; except that no one dared to speak of the truth.

"So, you have made the choice." Yourichi stepped out of her office.

"Is as like you had said, it is worthless trying to fight something that has no meaning." Ryo answered as they walked out of the building. "Besides, Toushiro wouldn't want to continued being chased by a man with no meaning in life."

She laughed, "I agree." The soft breeze was very much present in the morning, Fall seemed to approach like a silent lion. "So, where will you go so that Jun would stop this nonsense game of cat and mouse."

"Not sure, it is something that I rather not speak about in the open. I will tell you eventually though." He answered as he stuffed the box in his car, deciding it was better to drive home himself. "Make sure to keep my son at bay with safety, maybe it would be best if he decided to marry Kurosaki-chan before winter."

"You have set your bet on that?" The woman laughed breezily, it was good that the man didn't seem particularly depressed. "Isshin says that he wants to see a winter wedding. Karin doesn't particularly care about anything, only that people would quit pestering her about things. As for your son, he seems to be handling his role as a father well."

Ryo was very glad about that particular part, his nephew meant so much that it wasn't really worth leaving like that, but he hoped that in the future there could be a relationship with the small boy. What was there to say about that? Of course, there would be nothing in particular at all because maintaining himself away from his own son was better in order to keep him alive; yet it felt quite sad that he would be doing just about the same thing as his mother had. How many years had passed by since he had seen that unspeakable woman?

Far too long, it had been since his son had been just a mere child that was well aware of everything. A smile spread around his face though, remembering that Toushiro hadn't even cried or ever asked about his mother--it seemed as though he had forgotten about her existence and it was something better. He sighed though, he felt like a worthless man at the moment.

"There's nothing that you should worry about, just go with ease." Yourichi put a hand on his shoulder, smiling for support. "I know that you think that you will be doing the same as her, but he would understand it coming from you."

"How can you be sure about that?" Ryo asked, his eyes holding emotions that no one had ever seen. The cold man had vanished entirely, it was an old wound that would never heal.

"I just do, now go before you continue to waste time." Yourichi gave him a slight push, it was childish, but they had been like that since they had been small children. "Everyone loves him, even Ichigo can't stop himself from wanting to take care of him like a brother."

She was right about that part, even though his son was slightly mature of his age, everyone couldn't help but being near him. With that, the car sped off down the street and disappeared at the corner. Hitsugaya Ryo had vanished from Japan, only those near him knowing well about his whereabouts and the world was still aware of his presence.

+…

+--Feeling Of The Heart--+

September was already rolling in, those long hot summer days disappearing as the cold days were arriving earlier then expected, but Hitsugaya Toushiro had enjoyed that much better then anything else. Yoshiro was running about, seeing that he was a fast learner it seemed like his son had learned to walk quickly. He was all smiles, happiness it was almost like those perfect pictures from those beautiful stories, but deep down there always seem to exist an underlying fear that was conflicting. He laughed at his son, his turquoise eyes held wonder and amazement as he held onto the thick book that was on the table.

"What?" Toushiro asked him, walking over towards him and bending down to his small size.

"Book, read book." Yoshiro pointed to himself, indicating that he wanted his father to read to him.

"It's in English, will you be able to understand that?" He smiled, putting his hand on his head. "You can barely speak much in Japanese, now you want me to read you in English." The small boy nodded. "Fine, lets make you a learner then."

Karin walked just as Toushiro picked up their son, sat him on his lap and opened the thick book. She smiled, it never seemed to shock her or make her upset to see them together like that; after all they were like a happy family. Sure there was the slight dysfunctional thing, except that didn't seem to count much nowadays because of how the family was still living together in harmony. They had long moved out of Ukitake-san's house, it was a little of a bother to invade his privacy like that, but he hadn't mind it so much. He visited a lot though, he had taken a well like for the family and for the small boy.

She rubbed her stomach, it was growing slightly and the baby was growing well. People had also long ago forgotten about them, about finding out the truth about them and everyone else. Hinamori Momo had become Aizen Momo, sadly she had gotten into an accident and had a miscarriage--though from pictures of them together she seemed quite happy about it. There had been rumours though regarding the fact that Aizen wasn't even the father of the child, so maybe things would get better for that girl.

"There are my two favourite boys." She stepped farther into the room, walking glamorously towards them.

"Okaasan!" Yoshiro pushed himself away from his father's lap, and walking over towards his mother. "Book, Otousan reads me books."

"Oh, I can see that." She smiled, taking a seat on the couch and picking up her son. "What are you reading to him that he gets so happy?"

"Dickens, the original copy." Toushiro smirked, showing her the copy of the book. "He's a smart child, despite of how childishly he likes to talk, but that's good. He'll be a normal kid."

"Why normal, Otousan?" Yoshiro turned his gaze towards him, it was that intense look about him that was comical in a sense.

"At your age I already read books, but that's a story I'll explain until you are older." He turned towards Karin, kissing her forehead and putting his hand on her stomach. "Yoshiro, you'll be a good big brother, right?"

Their son put his small hand on his mother's belly, he smiled for some reason and hugged her tightly. Karin laughed at the notion, patting his son's back and turning towards her lover. Things seemed to be getting better, work was just the usual and life returned to what it had been so long ago. No one bothered themselves with them anymore, seeing them together in the street holding hands or going to important events no longer seemed strange. There were times though in which people would be so troublesome, some girls would suddenly shout at Karin random things about being a complete bitch and such, but she would simply smile and continue walking.

The family was even more happier about having life return to normal, though Ichigo was still slightly exasperated with the many interviews about the family. Some people still judged them wrong, as if they actually cared of pointless opinions regarding the infidelity between a former engaged man and his own sister--so what. He entered particularly at that moment, his two sons trailing behind him on their own suits.

"Where are you Stooges going?" Karin asked.

"Karin-neesan, we are going to work." Koji and Kazuki replied at the same time. They were so much like their father, no wonder people would laughed at how funny the three of them together looked.

"I've told you a hundred times, no." Ichigo looked down at them, he was desperate to get to work early and prepare for that meeting. "Tomorrow, I promise. Today is just not a good day, meetings will take long and you two will get bored."

"Otousan, we like meetings though." Koji furrowed his brow deeper, was that even possible?

"Yeah, Okaasan will make us do girly stuff with her." Kazuki commented, stuffing his hands on his pockets. "We like work better then home, even school."

Ichigo groaned silently, his children were becoming so mature rather quickly, and they were already wishing to set their future into place. They were elementary school kids, mature for their age and were influence by their uncle, but mainly himself for being a working man.

"Wait, what kind of girly stuff does your mother make you do?" He asked suddenly, wondering what kind of dumb Chappy related rubbish Rukia made them do.

"She makes us dress for tea party, Hisana-neechan likes that." The smaller boy said, crossing his arms in a huff. "That dumb rabbit is annoying, and we don't like tea or other girly things."

"Tea party?" The orange haired man's eyebrow twitched, that woman. The crazy things that happen to women, but he didn't dare to comment since she had practically ears everywhere--a beating would take place during the night for making a rude comment regarding that crazy rabbit. "Forget it, I'm going to be late. Get going to the car, or else I'll leave you to spend time with the rabbit."

The two boys looked at each other, a scary look appeared on their faces and both took off running for their lives. Ichigo chuckled at their sons, they were mature and childish in their own way. His gaze turned towards the couple in the couch, his nephew was staring at him.

"Ichi-niichan!" Yoshiro looked at him, smiling.

He smirked. "See you, I'm going before I'm late."

"Take care, Ichi-nii." Karin waved at him, Toushiro simply gave him a nod.

"I should go to work too," Toushiro stood up and fixed his trousers. "I'll see you later." He kissed Karin and kissed Yoshiro's forehead.

"Bye-bye Otousan!" He waved at his father, dropping his head against Karin's chest and sighing.

"I know you miss him, but so do I." She answered the unsaid comment. "We should get going to work too, promised Orihime-san that we would hand her the planning material."

The small boy nodded, allowing her to stand and holding his hand out for her. Every single moment spent like that made life worth while, it was important having such connection and knowing that life simply went on.

+…

Planning never went accordingly if not done right, forgetting or skipping a step could have its faulty ending. Hinamori Jun had known that, ever since his lovely encounter with that woman called Urahara Yourichi, it seemed a little impossible to continue on. His wife had long ago disappeared, completely moving on with her life free from his reign, while his daughter had married herself to a powerful man. What made the desire of holding power so strong? Holding such greatness would mean a better life, more money and more respect from the rest; now it was impossible since the man he was after had disappeared as well.

Spending nights and days in a lonely world was a little too much, it hadn't been part of the plan to say the least and he wished to return back to how everything had been. Playing the cat and mouse game hadn't brought greatness, only the foolishness that seemed to grow much bigger with each single second and it had been wrong. Losing something that was never meant to be won was a bigger defeat, after all, he ran deep with that ego of his.

"Just give up." Urahara Kisuke sat in front of him, appearing suddenly. "I've come to lay down your terms, seeing that the government is very much aware of your business with the communist party hiding in Belize."

"I would like to know what the hell you mean by such accusation." He spoke in a bitter tone.

The blond haired man shook his head, clicking softly his tongue and smiling. "I come in good graces, though you knew that this would come to an end quickly; especially since you've been slacking off." The other man said nothing. "No one in government knows it all like I do. Drug dealers are funny men, along with arms dealers and espionage people."

"As I said, I do not know what you mean by any of it." Jun glared at him, wanting and wishing for him to stop spitting out the truth. "If you have nothing to arrest for, please get the fuck out of my office before you start to piss me off."

"Sooner then you expect it, maybe you will understand it better." Urahara pulled out his fan. "If you decide to end it right here and now, I advice that you take it well because when someone else catches you things might get worse."

"You're awfully a know it all, but as I said before, I do not know what you are talking about." Jun pulled out his packet of cigarettes.

Urahara watched him light the cigarette, the puffy cloud that appeared made him think. If the man before him had been more careful and much cunning, perhaps he might have been like the smoke--impossible to catch it with bare hands. Jun needed to know about the consequences of his little game, going around threatening people, doing dodgy treaties with drug dealers, hiring assassins, doing business with bad people around the world--all of it would never sound good in the charges.

"Do not play dumb with me, Jun. Spare yourself from doing more in order to have more charges against you, be thankful that there's no murder on it yet." The blond man stood up suddenly, staring around the study room and examining it well. "Having a lot of valuables does not make you invincible, money will not get you out of this one. Turn yourself in by will, or be arrested by the private task force. Plus, you have international charges against you, so perhaps the American FBI might be looking for you along with Interpol."

"Tch, doesn't mean much anymore." Jun scoffed, flickering at his cigarette. "Ryo is getting what he wants in the end. Still, no one will tell me where I can find him."

Urahara grinned at that, no one really knew where he was only when he would appear randomly on the headlines for having successful events in his hotels and doing random interviews with hotelier magazines. Of course, Ryo was never the one to stay in one single place at once until Jun was put in prison for his wrongdoings against him.

"He will come back, until you are in prison for the rest of your life." He answered, opening the door. "Maybe the government gives you the chance of doing your jail time in another country, after all, you have not killed here and there's murders in California waiting for you. Good bye, Jun."

The man could not say a single thing, all of those international charges were bigger then the ones here in the country. Man became blind with power, holding so much of it create it the may believe feeling of being invincible against the entire universe, but it had been wrong to think so childishly like that. Though, he could not face jail time, he would never lower himself into the likes of those petty criminals that could never be like him and smart as well. Maybe it was true that he was going mad, had been for so long already, but no one was going to get to him.

Silently and gently, Jun opened the drawer of his desk and pulled out the .9 mm gun, it shone with the light of the moon. He had not commit a murder, it was the perfect time to do it before turning himself in. It was the perfect timing as the butler entered the study room. He was an old man, having served him for over the past 30 plus years of life and he was getting to be a little less perfect; people like that were not meant to live anymore.

"Hinamori-sama, your tea is done." The butler said, bowing and setting the tray down on the table.

"Thank you, Atobe-san." Jun smiled, pointing the gun to the retreating man. "I am very sorry for this, but it can't continue any longer. Good bye, old friend."

The butler did not have time to turn, to see the assailing assassin that Jun was or seeing the mad look on his face. The man watched the old man fall on the ground, twitching as blood flowed from the wound on his back and blood coming out of his mouth. He was spluttering something, though his own blood prevented him from speaking loudly and that only made Jun smile. He had not killed for so long, that tragic accident when his cousin had died had been all his doing; no one was to know about that one though.

He laughed at that, the old man did not deserve to live anymore due to his useless manor and since he was going to be arrested anyways; it was better to enjoy freedom for a little bit longer.

…+

The day had been longer then expected, working along his father's corporation had been much less thrilling then the many times that which he had spent there. Of course, he was the one to lead it to the future and become bigger as well--though it was not what he wished in the first place. A more simple life was easier to deal with, working on a small office space did not feel that much horrible and money was practically useless since there was so much in his account already. Toushiro wanted to erase his name from the public, he wanted to move out of town and start again somewhere else, but his girlfriend was the one that would never have the opportunity of being away from the public.

He stared at all the men that took important parts in his father's company, their eyes were on him as he stood there and stared back at them. Kurosaki would not mind have to join another company, after all, the Kuchiki Co. was trying to buy his company and have it become one--maybe he was willing to make a sell and have three corporations in one.

"Speak dear boy, you are much too serious for us." One man laughed, turning over to the other men on the table. "Ryo was always the one to get straight to the point, but you seem to be lacking the experience of talking I presume."

"I have to think before I act, those are wise words I advice to take." Hitsugaya leaned back on his chair. "My father and I are different, I'm more tactical and less talkative. I observe and examine well everyone else, my father always enjoyed spouting about that great talent that he could not have. This company is far too great, though I must say that it cannot continue any longer then it has to."

"What do you mean by it?" A man at the end of the right stood up, his brown hair was long and had a bored expression on his face.

"The Kuchiki Corporation wants us to join it, to become one whole and sell more. Kuchiki Byakuya is a great thinker, and this chance will not come again." He knew that by using his name no one would oppose. "Even we might become a three name corporation, if Kurosaki Ichigo decides to join as well."

The men went into collective whispering between them, the Kuchiki Co. dedicated themselves to sell technology to the world and never failed at anything, the Zangetsu Co. sold quality and service to the users of their products and the Hitsugaya Co. sold their protection to them. Three turning into one would be bigger then anything else, three heads would take over the entire business world and knocking out the best that laid out there. A deal like that would never come again, not after the Aizen Enterprises and Ichimaru Engineering joined forces only a couple of years ago.

The capital of the country changed dramatically after that, slowly climbing into the markets of the world and suddenly taking over the top spots. It was something far greater then that, even becoming top in the world. They could deal with that, in due time they would be extremely popular and in be in demand.

"What says you, Hitsugaya-sama?" Another man said, everyone turned their gazes upon the white haired young man at the end of the long table.

"Tomorrow there will be a meeting with Kuchiki Byakuya and Kurosaki Ichigo, the contracts will be signed and the joint will take place within the remaining of the year." He wanted to leave quickly, not really regarding himself so much of his thoughts into the decision. "If someone opposes to it, you may leave the company with a letter of recommendation, the rest of the services provided by the company will not be void until you have started a new job somewhere else and they will be terminated for good. All legal matters will be taken care by--"

"Us, Kuchiki Hisana and Kurosaki Rukia." Both women had entered right at the moment.

"Pardon for our delay, Hitsugaya-sama. Our firm will deal with all legal matters regarding the joint of the three companies, we are terribly sorry to announce the absence of our other member." Rukia smiled at all of them, holding out her suit case on the table and opening it. "I have personally written every single detail in this contract, there will be new policies established by the other management departments of the three companies and they will be sent to the main offices of the Public Relations Department. It will be a long process…"

"We must ask all of you to participate in this." Hisana ended, trying to get the men's attention back from her stomach to the matter at hand. "My client, Kurosaki Ichigo will be present at tomorrow's meeting along with Rukia's client, Kuchiki Byakuya. Hitsugaya-sama, we are terribly sorry for the absence of our other partner in this."

"Do not be put off by it, I will contact her in the evening." Toushiro answered, all the legal papers were being passed around. "Well gentlemen, any complains, suggestions, comments…anything in particular before this meeting is over? Kuchiki and Kurosaki are here to answer the legal questions, if any of you wish to ask."

"I do, Akaba Kyo is the name." The guy on his left stood. He looked young, experienced and intelligent from the way he stared so vividly at the two women. Toushiro stared at him.

"Yes, what do you have to say?" He asked.

The young man cleared his throat. "If I may not be too imprudent, but isn't it a little bizarre that you have hired the wives of the men that which you want to make a deal with?"

Rukia and Hisana looked up at the same time, not only where they married to powerful men, but were extremely alike to one another; though Hisana was slightly taller then Rukia and much older. Still though, people would find it completely odd that they would work for their husbands, always handling their legal matters and putting out their best effort to be the best in the business. They were of prestige schooling, having gone to Tokyo University, graduating at the top of their class and being hired by the big name firms; now they were two of the best.

"If I may," Rukia address Toushiro before continuing. He nodded at her simply, allowing her to explain. "I do not find it completely ethical to do the dealings of my husband, Ichigo hired my sister personally for this because he has known her along with my father-in-law. He has put his outmost trust upon her, while Byakuya-niisama has put his trust upon me. Dear Akaba-san, we do not treat neither of them as what they are to us, but we treat them like any other client."

"I am terribly sorry, Kurosaki-sama." Akaba bowed at her.

"Do not bother, but my sister speaks the truth." Hisana smiled at him. "Ichigo-kun is never the easiest to deal with, after all, he also has studies in law. He simply asks advice from me since he considers me the best, even turning down the high profile lawyers in town and the entire country. In truth, my husband trusts upon Rukia for his legal matters, and he corrects her mistakes as well. We are glad to hear over your concern, and I wished that you might stay."

"H-hai! Thank you, Kuchiki-sama." He bowed again, this time sitting back on his chair and typing quickly on his laptop.

Toushiro was pleased with the two sisters, they were indifferent about the men in their lives and treated them like any other. Of course, work and home were two different things at once that which they easily forgot about and treated anyone related to them no different then a client. Plus, they weren't exactly the nicest either when it came to scrutiny or judgement.

At home, Karin and Yoshiro were already sitting by the piano and laughing. He entered silently inside it, removing his suit and setting it upon the long chair. He watched the beautiful woman sit there, laughing so happily along with his happy son. Somehow, there was still a doubt growing, a fear that grew silently somewhere and continued to linger in. Except that there was no time to waste, not when there were so many things that had to take place in order to continue rebuilding his strange life.

"What joke did I miss this time?" He spoke, the dark haired woman and boy turned. "You can quite literally hear your laughter from the front door."

"Otousan!" Yoshiro jumped off the stool and raced towards him. The white haired man bent down in order to catch the small boy in his arms, kissing his forehead and hugging him tightly. "I went with Okaasan to see Orihime-chan. She's going to give me a cousin for my birthday!"

"Silly boy, she didn't guaranteed it to be more precise." Karin walked towards them, hugging Toushiro and kissing him. "Lou-san announced about the arrival of their first child today."

"That's great, I should send her something to congratulate her." He expressed, picking up his son and looking at him. "Don't forget about your other cousins either, Kazuki and Koji--Amaya isn't old enough to play yet."

"Hai! Amaya-chan is spoiled by Rukia-neechan." Yoshiro expressed playing with the knot on his father's tie. "Oh, tomorrow I want to go with Ichi-niichan."

"I do not think that Kurosaki will take it well, but you can ask him if you like." Toushiro grinned at the small boy. For a barely two year old boy he was bright, a little too bright for his own taste.

He wasn't going to commit the same mistakes as both of his parents, his mother had gone off to be with another man in another continent and never spoke to him, his father wasn't the best but never the easiest to deal with. No, being a better father then his own was like a goal in life already, the only thing that kept him in place and he wanted to do it properly. His turquoise eyes turned to the beautiful woman that could ever occupy his mind, she smiled so lovingly at their son and looked just completely breathtaking like that--if he were to die right there then it would be a happy death.

"He's such a happy child, isn't he?" Karin asked as they were laying down to sleep.

"Always, surprised that he's always smiling like that all the time." Toushiro replied, fixing his pillow and settling inside the sheets. "When will you tell me if it's a boy or a girl?"

Karin laughed, he could be so persistent about that, but she didn't even know herself. "When he or she comes into the world, besides, I don't even know." He pouted at that, she turned and put her hands on his face. "Don't worry, there's little time left for this. In winter, he or she will be a winter child just like you."

Toushiro pulled her into his arms, holding her and trying not to suddenly shout at how grateful and happy he was about being a father. He wasn't going to miss this child's birth, not when he had missed the one of his son and there was no one that would ever make him miss something so great like that. Karin kissed him roughly, she had been desperate to be so close to him in spite of living together for months already, but it was a desire that was present and had for so long now. So long ago they had existed together in some unknown form, almost like an exploding star that only seemed to have scattered away simply.

She had known for so long now that there was no other man that she could ever desire for, no one that could understand her feelings and treat her like any other normal person. Those of who had asked her to marry them only wanted a trophy, but Toushiro seemed to want a woman that did not need protection from the greedy people, that could take care on her own and handling things as well.

"I want to get married." She said suddenly, looking into his turquoise eyes as they widened in response.

"W-wait…you want to get married?" He sputtered, unable to comprehend what she had just said. His girlfriend was never the one to easily agree to commitment like that; not that he wasn't happy or anything, it was simply odd to say the least. "When did you suddenly have the idea?"

"When I forced myself to push you away." The idea had been very present for so long now, it was literally almost like a joke. "I don't want to continue holding onto some kind of hope or anything in particular--I want to be with you and only you. I want to get married."

"You're going a little wrong here, I'm the one that is supposed to ask." He laughed a little at that, but Karin frowned. "What?"

She flickered him in the forehead, leaving a tiny red mark on there. "Idiot. I'm not those girls that enjoy the cliché shit, so kindly work with me here before I change my mind."

The white haired young man rubbed his forehead, she was right though. "When?"

"Tomorrow, I want to do this as soon as possible."

Toushiro just gaped, never had in his life known someone to decide so easily like that while thinking about the rest.

"Fine, we'll get married tomorrow." He just wanted to sleep, suddenly he was tired and wanted to sleep.

Getting married to Karin like that, so quick and without asking consent from her father. It felt simply odd, by the weekend he would be a married man and Karin would become his wife--he smiled and laid his head to sleep. It had been so long since either of them had slept soundly.

* * *

_Chapter 11 of this lovely story. I will admit myself as well and say that the last chapter wasn't what I want it to be, especially since the ideas I had changed due to time and everything like that--another reason why I do not like planning anything at all. Anyways, extra long chapter today and I just made Jun a complete psycho muahahaha--don't ask I was watching some Mexican soap opera with this guy named Bruno made me laugh for no reason at all, he's evil and extremely annoying. Blah, plus I've been listening to this spanish speaking band Zoe, as if no one has noticed that and they have awesome songs--I'll admit that much. Moving on, my finals are still torturing me but thankfully this upcoming week will be the last, but also the hardest exams come along--ugh and don't find out if I move up to next semester until by the end of the month so that's going to be a rough one. Hope you liked this chapter and how in the hell am I going to get them married? There will be a big wedding though, but Karin is never the easiest to deal with things that are big here. So, you know what to do. Off to work on the next chapter, study for economy, finish written assignments and all of that--bleedingxinxspace_


	12. His Family Matters

**Dislclaimer:** I do not own Bleach, just trying to get by without wishing on doing so.

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

"Family isn't about whose blood you have. It's about who you care about."

+…

+--His Family Matters--+

Counting every single minute and seconds until drowning into something that feels so new, there was no going back anymore on the decision that had been made. Karin stared at herself in the mirror, the fearful look upon her face wasn't going to help by telling her brother about wanting to marry right away and the ring that was weighing down upon her left hand wasn't helping either. Yesterday she had simply asked Toushiro to marry her as soon as possible; he seemed to have waited for that so long ago that in the morning she had awakened with the ring on her finger.

In spite of the growing anxiety, she managed to admire the beautiful silver ring with a large square diamond surrounded by tiny blue sapphires around it. Numbers couldn't possibly account the way she was feeling, putting aside all worry and fear, there was happiness steeling into the dark shadows of all the bad things from the past and filling it deeply. She could this, she had to. The sound of the roaring engine of the Porsche came; her dark eyes stared past the window and at the red car. Ichigo had a tendency of changing cars so much, especially since he would trade them with other people or give them as gifts to their closest friends.

In the early wee hours of the morning, there had been a call to the house from Kuchiki Byakuya and it seemed to have been important. Of course, her sister-in-law's sister was in the delivery room already early in the morning. She had wanted to go with him; unfortunately being pregnant didn't exactly give the same energy as before. He looked tired as he entered; perhaps it wasn't the perfect moment to tell him about her sudden engagement and upcoming wedding either--not when he looked so tired.

"Welcome home, Kurosaki-sama." She greeted him, taking Ichigo's suitcase and closing the door. "Would you like something to eat?"

Ichigo sighed, trying to not drown suddenly on the growing pressure of everything around him. "No, thank you."

"Welcome home, Ichi-nii." Karin greeted him. "What the hell happen to you?"

The orange haired man walked towards her, kissing her forehead and taking a seat right besides her. "So fucking tired from hearing people bickering all the time about the merging of companies," Ichigo groaned as he shrugged himself out of his jacket. "I had to get up at three in the morning to go to the hospital. A difficult day, he just decided to come out."

"I'm sorry, wished that I had the chance to go." She expressed, looking at his tired face. "So, what happen to Hisana-chan?"

"Byakuya is the proud father of a baby boy, Raito." Her brother said, sighing again. "Looks exactly like his father."

Karin smiled, "I'm glad to hear that."

"He'll be a healthy kid, perhaps with a stick up his ass like his father," he grinned. "I won't mind though. Kazuki and Koji were rather eager about it, Rukia of course seemed to be glad about it."

"Kazuki and Koji will have more playmates," her nephews were extremely cute on their own way.

Silence suddenly fell between the two siblings; Ichigo closed his eyes and allowed the tiredness to take over him. Karin saw his chest rising and falling, he overworked too hard when there was not even a need on doing so, but he was a very important man. Somehow, she started to think of how her super brother managed to do a lot of things at once; being a young father at the beginning, marrying a woman at a young age, unaffected by the people's gossip about him and just being himself.

Not many people were aware of her likeness towards her brother, frankly people would simply find it odd that Ichigo's little sister would even have emotions at all. Everyone would expect that kind of behaviour from Yuzu, but never from Karin herself because she rarely spoke about any family things. Then again, people were not very intelligent to say the least and try to see beyond of her image in the public's eye.

The door opened, the smiling faces of Kazuki and Koji came as they ran past their mother and up to their rooms. Rukia huffed, lifting the smaller Kurosaki child in her hands and looking over at them.

"Hello Karin-chan, see that he's fallen asleep." Rukia greeted her.

"He's tired, and there's a congratulations for you on becoming an aunt." She made to stand, but sighing in defeat when the weight of her stomach impedes her from doing so.

"Thank you," Rukia sat on the smaller couch and put Amaya in her lap. "Raito is already being spoiled by Byakuya-niisama."

The two women continued to chat, Karin seemed to want to forget the little agreement that which she had made with Toushiro. Perhaps it wasn't the very precise perfect moment to announce it, eventually it would happen due to the fact that they were going to get married soon--but allowing the consuming happiness of a new child in the Kuchiki family to overcome might help.

Though, Rukia could not help but notice the strange look that her sister-in-law had. It was rare to see her look so troubled, she hadn't gone to work for a week already due to the almost arrival of her child, but there was something that did not feel right at all.

"Karin, are you alright?" She worried, it wasn't normal to see her look so distraught and it wouldn't do any good in her condition.

"I-I'm fine, just a little anxious." The young woman evaded the truth altogether, it wasn't proper and she wasn't steeling herself away from the truth either. The timing was just so wrong. "I'm just slightly stressed, nothing big to worry about." With a smile on her face, Karin stood up and dusted her dress.

The raven haired woman wanted to believe that, but it seemed that something strange between her and her boyfriend was going on--though they were hard to figure out. Frankly, it wasn't even her business to begin with and there shouldn't be anyone prying into their private affairs--she would let it go this time around.

"Of course, I know the feeling sometimes as well." She smiled softly, trying so hard not to look more obvious.

…+

Karakura hadn't changed any since nearly fifteen years ago, it looked just as plainly as ever and boring. Of course, it had been one of the main reasons to have left town and the country altogether. She smiled daintily, her brown hair bellowed with the wind rushing inside from the window. People would be surprised to see her back, what would her ex-husband say? And, what about that child that which she had left behind? So many years had gone by already, yet there was some kind of hope that the child hadn't forgotten her entirely and might want to establish a relationship.

Her bluish-green eyes stared down at the small size picture of a white haired boy, the little smile that which he had seemed to be happy and his white hair was just messy. All of those precious memories seemed to have faded over the years, until now, it was time to return and re-establish her place again in the family. Maybe she could explain it clearly, show them both that there had been reasons to have gone from this place, but was sure to never leave again.

The road leading to the mansion didn't feel so long now, the house seemed to have changed entirely as trees surrounded it--mainly they were cherry blossom trees. The mansion looked the same still, only a few details had been transformed during the past 15 years. The Italian designed statue had already been removed, replaced only by another statue of a dragon. She got out of the car, immediately a butler came out around the corner and spotted her.

"Good afternoon," the butler greeted her, bowing as a sign of respect. "How may I help you?"

"I've come to see Hitsugaya Ryo and his son." The brown haired woman replied, looking around and trying to find the old workers. "Is Kaito around? He'll know the answer to my problems.

"I'm terribly sorry, my father cannot help you." The young butler replied, looking at the woman and examining her profile. "My name is Kaichi, Kaito was my father. Unfortunately, my father passed away five years ago."

"Oh, I am sorry to hear such tragedy." The woman expressed, looking at the man before her. "Is Ryo or Toushiro around?"

Kaichi shook his head, "No, Hitsugaya-sama has left the house for business and Toushiro-sama is out at the office. Him and his family will return home in an hour or so."

The woman's eyes widened slightly, did that butler just said that her son had a family already? It couldn't possibly be, how old was Toushiro now? He was seven when she left, fifteen years later he would be turning 22 due to his birthday being until December.

"Him and his family, whatever do you mean by it?" The woman asked, wanting to clear up everything right at the moment.

"I'm terribly sorry, but that is the family business." Kaichi bowed. "You may return later, Toushiro-sama does not allow strangers inside the house while he's not here. If you like, you may go to the garden area and await for him there. Excuse me."

"No! I am Hitsugaya Emi, Ryo's wife and mother to Toushiro." She stated firmly. How dare these people treat her like that? A stranger, Emi would laugh it off in a matter of seconds. "Where's my respect in this house?"

Kaichi glared at her, Hitsugaya Emi had not existed in the family for over fifteen years and counting still. Fifteen years ago the mistress of the house had left; he had been a ten year old boy then.

_He stared at the tall woman, the bright red coat and the sound of her heels was very normal to hear around the house. She smiled kindly at everyone, faking happy emotions and everything for the sake of the family. Kaichi knew well that it was never that easy to lie, making people believe that it was a happy household when truly it was the opposite. _

"_Ryo, you bastard," Hitsugaya Emi muttered harshly. "How dare you say something like that in front of me?" _

_The white haired man stepped back and forth in the small space, Kaichi was never the one to pry on their business at all. Hitsugaya Ryo did not look exactly pleased, when would anyone looked pleased when they were seeing their own wife holding herself so tightly onto another man?_

"_Because you know that it is true," Ryo responded in a very stressing tone, "Emi, you allowed Toushiro to see you hold yourself so tightly against that miserable man. If you only would pay closely attention to him, perhaps you might figure out that he isn't stupid." _

"_Don't! Just don't, leave him out of this." The brown haired woman expressed. "Did I not tell you to keep him at your side?" _

_Ryo laughed, "Toushiro isn't the one to stand still, and he's an adventurous child and gets curious." Kaichi could see that this wasn't going to finish in a very happy note. _

_He shouldn't be listening anymore, but the action was just hard to push aside at the moment. His father would be angry, yelling about how much of a prying kid he was and that he should stay away from the family matters. _

"_You know what Ryo, I'm not going to put up with your accusations anymore!" Emi grabbed her handbag and threw her husband a dirty look. "Tomorrow I'll have people take my things from the house, you'll get the divorce papers and you'll keep the child for his own good. I'm leaving this household and your dictatorship!" _

Hitsugaya-sama had not said a single word during that time, the small seven year old boy never cried or asked about his missing mother. Kaichi had not known what to do or think back then, only that this woman was never to be allowed back inside the Hitsugaya home anymore after leaving like that.

"Still, I am very--" Emi cut the young butler off, walking past him and bumping into him. How dare he! No one in this household was allowed to treat anyone like that, but of course, Ryo was always the one to be so judicious about everyone. If that man could, he would have every one of his friends and colleagues have a background check just to make sure they weren't dodgy people.

Kaichi stood there in the staircase, watching the woman in red disappear into the house. This was going to have a high cost, especially since Toushiro had just recently moved back along with his girlfriend and son; not to mention the upcoming arrival of a new member into the family. He groaned, wishing and praying that he would not return anytime soon or perhaps Emi would leave first.

Wishing had been a little too much. The shiny black car was already on its way to the parking lot, not that they wouldn't notice the other car on the other end. The young butler simply stood his place, as always, to greet the family and guiding them inside.

"Good afternoon," Kaichi found it hard to even speak more than that.

"Good afternoon, Kaichi." The white haired young man replied, handing him his car keys.

"Kaichi-san!" Yoshiro smiled at him. Karin simply smiled kindly, holding onto the small boy's hand as he stood beside her.

"Kaichi, what's with that expression?" Toushiro asked, seeing the brown haired man in front of him looking so lost.

"I am terribly sorry, Hitsugaya-sama." He bowed, using the most formal speech that could ever be spoken between the two.

The white haired young man arched his brow, when had his butler suddenly called him by surname? Formality wasn't that important, it was almost unethical if formal speech wasn't used in front of his father, let alone when the house was filled with important people and things like that. Something felt wrong there, Kaichi was never the one to look like there was something wrong at all.

"Did something happen?" Karin asked suddenly, looking at Kaichi. "You didn't let Saki cook, did you?"

He shook his head, afraid that the young master's mother would suddenly come out. Of course, evoking her like that made everything happen so quickly. Hitsugaya Emi walked down the steps of the entrance, the small smile that hung on her lips was still very pleasant and her eyes stared at the couple. So, that was the family that suddenly sprung up out of nowhere.

"Toushiro? Is that really you?" Emi expressed, keeping her tone of surprise still. "You have grown so much, my son."

Karin stared at the unknown woman, had she just said that was Toushiro's mother? How bizarre, he had never mentioned her at all.

"What are you doing here?" Toushiro tensed up, locking his jaws tightly while eating all his words back.

Emi smiled, enclosing herself within the range of her son and holding out her hand to touch his face. Of course, after fifteen years things wouldn't be the same at all as the once small boy turned away, denying her love.

"How ungrateful," Emi scoffed, looking at the young black haired woman with a rather big stomach and a small boy staring up at her. "Oh, what do we have here? You sure that my son is the father?"

"Excuse me?" Karin glared at the woman.

"She's my fiancée and that's my son, please be careful on how you address them." Toushiro said, holding onto Karin's hand.

"I am terribly sorry; I wasn't accustomed on seeing other girls then Momo-chan here." The brown haired woman smiled, changing her tone entirely. "Is that really your son? Usually all Hitsugaya children have white hair."

Karin jerked her hand, but was held back tightly by Toushiro to avoid a fight. That woman had the nerve to speak so stupidly like that.

"Did you not hear my warning? What do you want here anyways?" Toushiro got defensive. "My father no longer has the right to give you anything, not when you resigned upon your rights to everything--including myself."

Emi chuckled, of course he would be so strong willed like that man and perhaps even much more smarter. She had been highly aware of his genius, speaking at a rather young age and already knowing much more than normal children of his own age. Going to science fairs at the tender age of five, having many lessons to attend to unlike the other little children--Toushiro had been gifted with a talent. The small black haired boy looked like him, those bright turquoise eyes were unmistakably her son's eyes and even the way they gazed up at her.

"I know, but I have not come for that." She said, tone changing suddenly. "Toushiro, my only son, I have come to ask for forgiveness."

Toushiro stared at her suddenly, what had that woman just said? Fifteen years had already passed, a little too long now to come and ask for such atrocious thing from him. Forgiveness, she dared to speak of something like that. Being abandoned at a young age seemed to have hit slightly hard, spending almost an entire three year period wondering what he had done wrong would not replace her sudden appearance.

"Get out of the property grounds," he walked passed her while dragging his fiancee with him and son. "Kaichi, tell Shinji and Kotetsu to show this woman out of the premises."

"Toushiro, wait! Wait, you have to hear me out." Emi pulled him back, but having her hands smacked away.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Sight." He expressed each single word in emphasis. "I can't forgive you! Not when you have not swallowed up your errors." Toushiro did not want to speak, did not want to hear her voice and seeing her beg like those simple minded people.

He couldn't, he did not want to for the sake of not trying to relieve three years of waste less efforts to have her back and continuing being a happy family. Happy families did not exist with people alike, but seeing his own son and Karin made him forget that; in contrary it made him want to become more.

"Toushiro…" Karin could not help it. Seeing the pain growing in his eyes was horrid, it had been a look that she wished him not to have anymore since so long ago. She knew that this wasn't a very good beginning at all.

…+

* * *

_In truth, I think I'm losing interesting in this story. I'm just running out of ideas for it, and probably I'll end up putting it on hiatus for good. I'm not sure though. Next week school starts back again, 2nd semester doesn't look bright at all. Though I hate quitting things, so I'll most likely end this story in the next 2-3 chapters and move to another story I want to write for the same couple. Other ideas are flowing in my head, maybe that's why this story is taking me time to write. Well, why is Toushiro's mother back? That I can't be sure, but lets just say it's to annoy him before he marries Karin. Maybe I'll make her evil and try to do something bad to Karin, I'm not sure. Off to continue writing at least 2 more chapters before Monday! Hit that button, pretty please. I hate begging!!_


	13. It Doesn't Come Easy

**Disclaimer:** Bleach is owned by the master and my personal hero. Sighs, I just can't quit this story like that. On with the chapter!

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

_"To have little is to posses._

_To have plenty is to be perplexed."_

+…

+--It Doesn't Come Easy--+

15 years ago…

The entire town enjoyed talking about everyone, the high life of the rich and every single thing that which they owned--it was an important topic. If you did not have anything, you were nothing in this world and of course the one person that was the topic of people's conversation was Hitsugaya Emi. The envy that which other women had for her was unmistakably hard to miss--the perfect husband that was rich, the little cute child that had been born just seven years ago. This was the life.

Having everything meant having everyone eat out of the palm of your hand, become filled with jealousy of the things you had that they did not and always having a red carpet underneath your feet. Emi had it all--including the perfect affair with the local big shot doctor. What was there to complain about?

"When are you going to get rid of them?" Her lover asked, his hands touching her. "They must know that you're my woman, no longer theirs."

She pushed his hands away, getting up from the bed. "It's not easy, not when that child is just completely insufferable."

"What the hell are you spouting about?" The man felt confused.

"Toushiro is just much smarter than I ever believed," Emi stated while pacing the room in the nude, "I didn't even know that he attended special classes for genius--you know how difficult that is. He saw us; you know what he might say."

"He's a child; at seven they aren't even caring for goes around them." The man sighed in frustration, staring at his beautiful woman that he had to share. "Dear, you're thinking a little too much and I'm sure that Ryo isn't going to even find out."

She glared at him, why couldn't people understand about her son being a genius that was hard to avoid, hard making him believe in something else instead of the truth--it was a difficult task. It was already bad enough that she had to stand the man; it wasn't the easiest thing in the world.

"No, Toushiro-kun isn't like that," Emi wanted to prove it right, "I don't even know what to think when I see him figure problems out much better than a college student."

The doctor said nothing, it was agreeable to think of the same thing. That child should keep his mouth shut though; it was for his own good.

Inside the Hitsugaya house, things did not look perfect at all--they were broken without remedy. Ryo couldn't stand his young wife anymore because it was fighting a lost cause already, besides he couldn't possibly love her anymore.

"Come son, it is time for your lessons." He indicated at the small white haired boy.

He glanced up, his bright turquoise eyes glowing with the light and looking so strong like any other. The man was proud of that, a smart child with so much going for him in the future seemed like a dream come true. At least, he couldn't possibly hate Emi for giving him a bright child like Toushiro; it had been a gift. The boy was simply seven years old; though he looked like a tiny kindergarten kid--the ones he hadn't even met and would never in his life.

"Yes, Father." Toushiro stood, dusting his school uniform and following his father. "Have you seen Mother?"

"No, why is that?" His father asked, as they got into the limo. "Did she say anything to you again?"

The white haired kid shook his head, strapping on his seat belt and rolling down the window slightly. "No, she said that there was something she needed to do at her office."

"Funny, the office did not open today," Ryo smiled, feeling like there was something to catch up to. "What do you think of our new family doctor?"

"A little too involved, too forcing to like me well for…" Toushiro trailed off for a second, his eyes focusing onto the passing red car that belonged to that doctor. "Proving him wrong on that medical term, I assume so. And, I think that he's a little too caring for your wife."

The man could not help but admire his ability to observe, to actually see beyond people as well and their habits--it was a little to easy to figure it out. He had known for a while now that Emi was having an affair with that supposed doctor--he even seemed a little too obscene for his taste. Besides, it was only in time that things would take a turn for the worst.

Having love affairs was very common in today's society, not many people like them stayed away from temptations at all--Ryo could have be the least caring about it. Arguing with Emi would only become too stressful; she'll become whinny and fake her innocence. They had been arguing a lot lately, rarely seeing each other and talking at all; mainly to avoid each other and argue about mindless little things.

"How could you! Accusing me of such nonsense," Emi stressed out too easily. "I'm not doing the things you claim about me, what about you?"

"I'm not the one that has to be seen around town parading with the doctor," Ryo muttered, keeping his eyes on the newspaper at his hands. "He's not really my type either, only telling you the rumours I hear."

"Well, don't because it's making us argue like this." The woman was so easily giving up.

The white haired man simply grinned, this was going to be a fight that she wouldn't be able to win, and she would be doing a little harm to the poor boy. Toushiro wasn't the one to be blamed for their faulty problems, not when he was so innocent and rarely stayed at home. He had stated many times that marital problems were meaningless to him, deep down Ryo knew that it wasn't so.

"Toushiro has seen the two of you already," he was nonchalant about it.

Emi turned to her husband, that child was spying now? That child rarely ever did anything fun, always doing something educational--there was no friends that ever came over, no places where a seven year old would frequent at or anything of the sort. Toushiro was a freaky child, far smarter compared to a college student, attended way too many lessons on his free time, but she hadn't met his little tattle-tell side to him.

"He's a liar that little freak child!" Emi screeched, eyes dangerously glaring at the man. "Of course, I hate him with everything I've got for making me your wife. Now, now he dares to tell such lies about me to you? Why don't you keep him in his lessons for?"

Ryo glanced at the little opening to the door, seeing his son disappear instantly down the hall. "I wouldn't say such bad things about him, especially since he will be something big in life."

"I don't care about him or you," her breathing came fast, "I want to file for divorce; you'll keep the child and care for him. I never wanted him, never!" With that, the brown headed woman left the room.

He did not want this conversation to get to that, but it was to prove that she was doing something wrong and to spill out the truth. The saying was true though; truth really did hurt so deeply. Hitsugaya Emi disappeared suddenly, leaving the country in pursue of something else in life and completely forgetting about the only son that which she gave birth to.

…+

Present…

All broken things wouldn't and couldn't possibly return to what they had been, not when so many years had passed already and when forgiveness did not exist. Toushiro did not want to accept her back, a mother who spoke so terribly of him like that and for hating him as well--how could he? He sat there in his office; Emi wouldn't leave the town until he would give her what she wanted. This wasn't going to go anywhere, it shouldn't go anywhere.

"Hitsugaya-kun, Ichigo-kun has arrived and doesn't look very happy!" Kotetsu Kyone announced in her sing-song voice.

"I'm over looking your behaviour today, let him inside." He glared at her. What the hell was Kurosaki doing at his office?

The orange haired man in questioned entered, his eyebrows were knitted in the usual permanent scowl and his eyes looked slightly bothered. The white haired young man deduced that it wasn't going to be a happy meeting. There were so many things to actually discuss; yet Ichigo felt the need to express his concern for his sister and about the engagement that seemed to come out of Karin suddenly earlier in the day.

"What's your business here, Kurosaki?" Toushiro asked as the man sat down, fixing roughly his suit and staring dead at him.

"Parading into her life, making her suffer," he pointed out while glaring at her sister's boyfriend. "Marriage, it seems concerning to me that you want to make that kind of move towards my sister."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" The white haired man stared at Karin's brother, though deep inside he wished not to have this discussion at the moment.

Ichigo sighed; this was a little stressing to say the least. "I won't argue, I don't have enough air to do so nor do I have enough stupidity to break Karin's heart." It was slightly strange to have such civil conversation, almost like perhaps the world would come to an end tomorrow and Ichigo was waiting for it. "I am just here to state my rules, so keep quiet and listen."

Toushiro opened his mouth, in attempt to argue, but the man in front of him did not allow him. "Hitsugaya Toushiro, you are in obligation to make her happy, to care for her, to protect her with you pathetic life, never hurt her in any way. If such things are not followed, make sure that you sleep with one eye open because I will not hesitate to kill you."

"Is that supposed to scare me?" Toushiro arched his brow, his eyes gleaming with the light.

The orange haired man shook his head, "I am only warning you because I know people; not very nice people too."

Toushiro groaned, Kurosaki Ichigo was hardly the man to make threats, but since he was a powerful man with a brother-in-law that even scared him; this was nowhere near a childish threat.

"I'm serious about her, I have been since the very beginning," he stood up and walked towards the window to hide his expression. "Karin means so much then the world complete, her meaning transcends both life and death; her meaning has a much bigger picture that will take years for anyone to comprehend it well. I love her with everything that I could give her, and my love for her does not have a definite volume or size."

The orange haired man watched him; it seemed a little too civil. Frankly, he figured that perhaps their conversations could be just the same as if they were talking about the weather; though it seemed to hold much more meaning then other conversations. If he were to talk to his lovely wife's brother, it would be practically speaking with a murderer and begging for life; it was slightly more intense with that man.

"Fine, I'm content with that," Ichigo stood up and dusted the invisible dust on his suit. "Have you two set a date?"

"The 2nd of October," Toushiro turned to look at him. "We both want to get this over with; she wants the wedding before the baby is born."

The man smiled, running a hand thru his spiky orange locks. "Alright, I have a few contacts that I will suggest; trusty people if you mind please." He grinned bigger. "Though, there are a few details that you might want to fix before running to tie the knot."

"What are you talking about now?" The white haired young man asked confused as to how his future brother-in-law was grinning.

"You might want to get past our father, he won't like it if he missed the preparations since his 'precious daughter' is going to marry you," Ichigo laughed now. "There's dinner with him tomorrow night, it might be the best opportunity before he leaves for Europe on his conferences if you want him to make it back in time for the wedding."

The young man had not thought about that. The very first and last time that which he had spoken with Isshin, it had not gone well at the time; so how would it be now? Maybe nothing would change, the man wasn't very keen on being angry with anyone for so long and perhaps he might be extremely overjoyed; since it was very apparent that he loved Yoshiro dearly.

Ichigo shut the door shut; Toushiro could not even comprehend the fact that he had to talk with Isshin in order to be married to his 'precious daughter'. He did not want to begin to think of it; not when there were other things to worry over at the time being. The white haired young man sat on his desk, the screen of his computer desk top glowed with the lights from his music player. Hinamori Jun had fled, disappearing entirely from the entire world and leaving no trace of him behind. There were things that did not feel right; not when his personal butler had been found dead at the abandoned home and his ex-wife had gone missing suddenly after that.

The worst might come someday because it would be unavoidable; at the moment it did not feel right to think of it at all since there was still that problem with his mother being back to Karakura. He groaned silently, thinking about her being in town was enough for one day.

+...

Menos Inn was holding a small party for their opening; everyone seemed to be the least excited about it since practically all of them went to a big party all the time. Karakura was considered the light of the party, after all, there was always a big party going on that famous people oftentimes came to them. Various news papers would have the highlight of those parties on the front page, on the economy section and such; it was due to how much money those parties would make since they weren't exactly free. Karin sighed, looking at the golden sheer cloth that hung from the ceiling causing the effects of golden waterfalls and signed the paper that was sat in front of her.

The party would take place tomorrow night; the famous band of the Arrancars was coming from their Thailand concert since they had a concert in Osaka the following night. She rubbed her large stomach, feeling her child kick and sighing again. How much she wished to be home at the moment, however, it would be later because there were a lot of other things to take care. At least, Yuzu had been kind enough to return from her latest location in Malaysia and wait until the baby was due.

"Kurosaki-chan it is always lovely to see you!" Matsumoto Rangiku exclaimed cheerfully, evading from hugging her in the current state she was in.

The black haired young woman smiled, standing up slowly and greeting the supermodel. "I did not think that you would be involved here."

The strawberry blond model smiled, winking at the party planner and looking at the ever growing stomach. "I'm sure he or she will look like the father, right?"

"A mini Toushiro would be cute, so I'm going for that." Karin smiled, feeling extremely cheerful. It was the pregnancy, she had told herself many times before. "Anyways, why did you suddenly change careers for?"

Matsumoto Rangiku was the most sought out Japanese model; after all, she was extremely beautiful that no man could ever pass her. Other famous man had want her badly, except that Ichimaru Gin had been the one to take her heart away many years before and having the luck to take her with him. She was exceptionally happy with him, Karin had known that from other friends who knew her well, and she was glad to know that. They weren't exactly the best friends in the entire universe, but they were close enough to be considered friends; though not many people knew that very much.

"You know, being around Gin makes you want more," the woman explained as they took their seats by the fountain. "I've been around him too long; business just comes natural for him and I enjoy that. So, I thought about the many things I love the most and decided to go for it; he's being very supportive of me."

The dark haired young woman smiled, "I would only guess that he does that to please you."

Matsumoto laughed, "I don't think so." She sighed, thinking about that certain silver haired man that which she loved so dearly. "I've already gained my college degree in business; not your very typical blond model that doesn't know a single thing in this world. I've learned from you and Rukia-chan; always be a woman with backbone."

"It doesn't come easy, being a woman with a backbone doesn't exactly make you—likable." Karin expressed, looking at the papers before her and then at the model. "Ichimaru-san is doing a good job with it, especially since you aren't exactly the easiest person to actually deal with."

"Hey, my lawyers take care of all the contracts here," the two of them laughed.

Matsumoto Rangiku had being involved in the project, since they were doing a fashion show before the actual party to show the new line for 3rd Division line of clothing. So, Karin had agreed to work with the very famous model since she knew that the woman wasn't stupid; like other people enjoyed to believe. They remained in the lobby area trying to settle everything out, since Karin was the one to take care of all the organization and everything. Six in the afternoon came, the pastel colours were already appearing on the horizon line and the sun would soon sink. The cold air of September wasn't exactly the easiest to deal with, but she wouldn't complain about it.

Rangiku had offered to take her home on the fancy white limo, though the dark haired woman denied the offer and decided to walk home. Besides, sitting in an office for hours at a time did not do any good to the body, plus she felt the need to stretch her legs. Thinking about being home was a much more pleasant thought, now that Toushiro was there to wait for her and welcome her home. He was exceptionally nice, well that was an understatement since he was overbearingly protective since she was very much pregnant.

Once they were married, she wondered vaguely what life would be like then. A smile spread around her pallid face, her dark eyes glowed with so much happiness it was strange, but she did not care. Whatever the world thought was meaningless, not when there were many good things waiting to happen soon. She winced, the baby was kicking rather hard this time and the due date wasn't even nearing soon.

Around the corner, she spotted the woman that which was the supposed mother of her husband-to-be. In the park bench alone and solemn, that was almost sad to even look at and let alone having to leave under the same roof. Karin approached, unsure as what Toushiro's mother would say to her or how she would react. The woman, Emi she remember her name was, looked at her oddly at first.

"What brings you here, girl?" Emi asked, as she whipped her eyes. "It's a bit cold out here, shouldn't you head home instead?"

Karin took a seat besides her, rubbing her hands together and blowing hot air to them. "What about yourself, Hitsugaya-san? It seems strange to speak to you with such respect, but you do remind me slightly of my mother."

Emi chuckled softly; this girl was the first one to never say anything regarding her son in the beginning of the conversation. From the few hours that which she had known her son's girlfriend/fiancée, she was different from Hinamori Momo; whom she had heard recently that had gotten married already. Kurosaki Karin was the daughter of the once famous doctor, Kurosaki Isshin; she was the sister of Kurosaki Ichigo who was married to the heiress Kuchiki Rukia and her twin sister was Kurosaki Yuzu, who was becoming famous in the world of cooking. She had admitted to herself already being unable to hate this girl; after all, she was carrying her future grandchild inside of her.

"I remember hearing about her, it seems rather cruel that you or your siblings were unable to spend enough time with her," she expressed with the outmost sincerity she had. "Masaki was a splendid woman, remarkably witty and beautiful. Yes, I've only seen her and I'm sad that I did not get the chance to meet the greatest editor of Karakura and perhaps Japan."

Karin nodded; Emi wasn't so bad; yet. "Thank you for those words towards my mother, she was a wonderful woman."

They sat there in silence, the light suddenly vanishing and the night settling in. Both of their phones rang in the distance, though neither of them made any movement to answer them. Emi stared dimly at the dark haired young woman, trying to see more of her to find a reason as to why her only son had fallen so deeply in love with. Kurosaki Karin was a woman with a strong will, from what she had gathered in the short time she had been here, her future daughter-in-law was independent, going to college to get a degree in business and getting into the whole management of parties while still studying. So, Karin was smart and strong, but there were other things that were still a mystery since she was very private about her personal life.

The brown haired woman found this girl much more fitting for Toushiro, not because she was the mother of their children, but because she seemed to fit around him well. She had admitted since that very first meeting, Karin was not one to easily pass over someone else.

"Karin, may I call you that?" The woman asked. Karin nodded. "I will not object to you marrying my son, if you have wondered that the very least since I met you."

"I haven't had the time to worry over it, really," she was being modest of course.

"You're being too modest with me, but let me tell you something," Emi sighed, opening and closing her eyes. "I love my son, I had for so long and I've made a lot of mistakes too. The many things that which have caused his hatred for me are solid, I will not deny him that fact and I know that he will never forgive me for it. Tomorrow I plan to return back to Brazil, it would be best for him."

"I do not think he hates you, well at least not that much," Karin commented, leaning back against the bench and breathing the cool night air. "Toushiro is a stubborn guy, it took us long enough to get together, and I have caused him pain too. He's prideful and would never give in; maybe if you would give it time perhaps he might come around."

"No, that kind of thing should never be done after what has happen over the years. It is best if I were to leave, he would be much better off like that." Emi smiled, trying so hard to fight the sadness that reigned over her. "I'll leave tomorrow night, so I must ask of you to take care of my son and make him happy. Karin, I am glad that you are the one to choose my son out of all the other men out there."

Karin blushed slightly, looking at the woman before her and seeing the resemblance of Toushiro in her face. They weren't exactly the same, only they were a little too sincere when they let their guard down.

"So, you will not stay?" She asked.

"No, Toushiro is better off not having me around,"

"How can you be so sure of it?" Toushiro's voice came out of nowhere. His tall frame appeared from the shadows, the lamp highlighted well his eyes and white hair. The dark grey suit glowed underneath the light; his hands were tucked inside of his trousers while his eyes stared at both of the women. "You have not tried, mother."

Emi stared wide eyed at her son, had he been in the shadows the entire time? It was too late though, it wasn't like she was giving up; it was simply that forgiveness did not come easy. She would be happy knowing perhaps that he did not resent her anymore, that he would be happy with the girl he loved so dearly and watch his own children grow; Emi was happy with that picture.

"No, I will not try and ask for something so ludicrous," she stood up from the bench and tucked her hands on her thick coat. "I'll have someone pick up my things from your house. It is best like this, not because I don't love you or because I resent you; simply because someone like me isn't capable of being a proper mother."

"That I won't object to, but I can't force you to stay with us." Toushiro stood besides Karin, wrapping his arm around her waist and smelling her hair. "Maybe the feelings can't be mutual...for now. Perhaps in a little longer, if you are willing to write me and let me know where you are at. Denying you my family is impossible; will you be in accord to that?"

The brown haired woman smiled, nodding at her son and sighing. They didn't exactly look perfect; maybe it was better that way because looking perfect would not suffice in this world. Emi was content with that alone.

"I'll come back for the wedding on the 2nd, if that's alright." She expressed.

"Of course, it'll mean a lot for both of us." Karin was the one to answer.

"Alright, take care of yourself Toushiro and take care of Karin. We'll see each other again," she turned and walked away.

The couple walked the opposite side; hand in hand they walked home. That hadn't been so bad, yet things never came so easy at all. The wedding was nearing, danger seemed to slowly approach silently again and things were already counting themselves down to some show.

* * *

_Another chapter, slightly longer and less dramatic compared to the rest. I just couldn't bring myself to make Toushiro's mother an evil woman 'cos I'm slightly tired of that, so I made her to be nice. Not exactly the chapter I wanted to create, but seeing that my 2nd semester at school has started; things have gotten really busy alright. Exams start next week, how lame. Anyways, well since a reader (you know who you are) asked me to continue it, well this is for that reader for saying that. I shall try to get the next chapter up and running, though with school work I can't promise it will be in a short time. What will happen next? Mmm, good question actually--though my favourite villain Hinamori Jun will return to make a lovely appearence soon. Muahaha, well it's late so I shall try to get some sleep in a few. You know what to do, so hit that button and review at least. I won't beg, simply saying it. Thanks for reading!_


	14. Breaking Tide

**Disclaimer: **Still can't own Bleach, even though I have done all of my finance things--there's not enough money.

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

"Expansion of happiness is the purpose of life."

+…

+--Breaking Tide--+

The dead silence fell like a tide along the room, everything stood still and nothing seemed to penetrate it. The living room was decorated accordingly with the turquoise and dark purple colours, flowers were placed upon crystal vases that were imported from Italy, red rose petals were spread throughout the entire tile floor; it looked like those scenes from those fancy Hollywood movies. Dark blue silk curtains were draped across the tall windows in the large ball room, while streamers of purple and silver decorated the ceiling—it seemed to be holding a certain magical touch to it. Medium size crystal bowls filled with water hung from the ceiling, while candles floated inside it to create the semi-dark light, while the smell of fresh cherry blossoms hung upon the air.

The crème coloured chairs were decorated with simple vines, each seat had a small box wrapped in turquoise and dark purple ribbons. The altar was decorated with beautiful orchids painted in dark colours, while sheer cloth was wrapped around the arch that stood in the very middle. The drawing was looking better each day; there was absolutely no reason to rush over something that would take simply a couple of days to do. Karin sighed in content, pushing away the sketchbook and propping her feet up on the small coffee table that stood there alone.

"Kaasan, teach me!" Yoshiro snatched the sketch pad, flipping it open. "I want animals, please!"

The dark haired young woman smiled at the boy, pulling him closer to her side and grabbing the colour pencils that were on the side where she had left them. Sundays were absolutely horrendous, there was nothing to watch or do, especially since Karin was barely able to stand up for more than ten minutes at a time. Her wedding, it seemed bizarre to think that she was planning her own wedding. Somehow that picture had never appeared in the life plan she had built back in high school, it was just completely odd thinking back to those days. It wasn't like she was particularly mad at herself, the fact was the thing that made her slightly angry for never doing anything better for herself; though she did not feel the least disappointed.

Hitsugaya Toushiro was practically every girl's dream—a gentleman, kind, caring, handsome, smart...the list went on. She felt slightly odd knowing that she would marry that man, not that she even minded now, it was simply not part of that life plan that was already being burned away. He was so good to her, giving her a life that which she would never pass on again if she were to die and reincarnate again in the next life; it did not matter. The funny part about her picture at the moment was herself—the large stomach growing an inch every second, her face slightly coloured and her son attempting to draw a cat's face.

"Ne, Kaasan this doesn't look right!" The small boy complained, tearing the piece of paper out of the notebook and tossing it.

"Art isn't always perfect, you know," she smiled while kissing his head. "Come on, your father is due to return anytime soon from your Ojii-san's house and perhaps he might be starving to death."

Yoshiro dropped the colour pencils to the side, pushing himself down the couch and jumping on the floor. Karin smiled; he was very energetic for his age. They made their way towards the kitchen, all the maids complained to her for attempting to stand and cook. She dismissed them; it wasn't like she was incapable of handling such small task by making a sandwich and a PB&J sandwich for her son—simple. It did not take long, only huffing a few times while walking back towards the dining room to wait for her lover to get back home. It was best to prepare for the long complaints of her father; as if there was more to say on that. Needless to say, he was just in time and she listen to him complain about her father once more.

"...he wants to go fishing," he rambled on and on. Toushiro was having it tough, especially since Kurosaki Isshin was hardly the man to ever shut up during a conversation. "It was a bad thing having to go today."

Karin smiled. "Goat chin never shuts up—you should know that by now."

"You don't say..." Toushiro's words trailed away. The good thing of meeting with that man was that he agreed to have his eldest daughter marry him; after a few hours of long shouting and cursing, but it paid well in the end.

He had a lot of things to learn, for one thing, Kurosaki-san's friends were exceptionally annoying. Urahara and Yourichi were exceptionally talkative, though it was better to not pay attention to their innuendos that had come across the dinner tonight. Even though he had met them previously—but he was trying his hardest to forget that part. He dare not think about the many things that strange couple did at home, let alone suggesting him certain positions in bed to try out with Karin—completely disturbing—his sexual life was completely private.

Though, since Kurosaki Ichigo and his wife had attended, the conversation simply went to a certain point of awkwardness. Practically the crazy couple, Yourichi and Urahara, spilled out every single thing that they could about the _very_ private life of Ichigo and Rukia inside the bedroom—embarrassing.

"Those three are a complete circus, and I'm still waiting for the caravan to come and take them." Karin exclaimed, grinning slightly though while thinking at how those old family dinners had been like that for ages. "You'll get used to it, mainly since Ichi-nii and Rukia-neesan don't pay attention to their stupid conversations anymore. We all have learned to ignore my dad and that perverted shopkeeper, though you have to keep your eyes on Yourichi-san; she's exceptionally talented at dragging your secrets out in the open."

The white haired young man shook his head, that part he did not mind. Karin was going to be his wife, his son or daughter was going to be born in a month or so, he had an amazing son he loved so much—there was nothing to fear from her family. Even though all of them were strange in so many ways, the family friends were extremely annoying to say the least, but thanks to the Urahara's everything was fixed to its proper state. Nothing could go wrong now; not when there were getting this far without having anything bad happen again. It seemed a little too good to be true, but Toushiro did not want to go into frenzy for the sake of keeping his future wife calm due to her state.

He turned to look at her glowing face, that smile that remained there reminded him of so many happy days that which he spent with her and would in the future. Suddenly, Karin felt her future husband hug her tightly, smelling her hair and kissing her cheek. She smiled simply, turning herself to look at him better and kissing him fully in the mouth. The thought of having to be married to Hitsugaya Toushiro still did not stir some sort of fantasized thing, it was simply like any other normal thought of knowing that she was loved so dearly by him and that he had decided to marry her. She considered herself a lucky woman; after all, he simply dropped the other girl out of the picture and was happy with his choice.

"I love you, so much." He expressed while being unable to hold so many feeling inside. "Have you gotten everything ready for the wedding?"

Karin sighed, "It's going according to my planning—tomorrow the decorations are going to be put up in the ballroom in Kuchiki-san's house, since practically all the tables and chairs have arrived." She knew that it would only take a matter of hours to get it set up, but somehow she wondered how people were quick on doing it since the wedding was practically in a day. "Don't worry; it'll get done in time."

+...

He had to incline in accepting the fact that she wasn't that little ruthless ten year old kid anymore; it was harder accepting that fact alone without having to think of his young sister as a woman now. Ichigo sighed loudly, sipping his tea while watching Kazuki and Koji playing with their video games. Why tormenting himself over this; it was Karin's decision to marry suddenly like this and not making a big deal out of it—she had even begged him and Rukia to not buy a gift. Of course, his wife was reluctant on following her own advice and had gone to buy the present herself; it was the classic wedding gift—a blender. The orange haired man smiled while recalling the cute smile on his wife's face, it was still funny seeing that child like face upon her womanly face and it was also nice too.

"What are you thinking?" She appeared suddenly, draping her small arms around him as she lay on the couch.

"Nothing in particular, just about Karin," he answered, his eyes still focusing on his two sons. "It's just...complicated."

Rukia could easily tell that it was about Karin getting married in less than a day, but it wasn't really something to fully get depressed or worked up about since it was the young woman's choice. Though, the raven haired woman could figure out that perhaps it was a little too early for that kind of step; except that she had made such choice as well when she decided to marry Ichigo. Her amethyst eyes stared up at the amber eyes that melt her inside—they were distant for the moment being, but those eyes had looked at her and had for so long now.

She considered herself extremely—lucky couldn't possibly convey the proper feeling for that; not when the man least likely to step up to her plate back in middle school had suddenly grabbed her attention in high school. Those were the long and difficult days of life due to the older Kuchiki; he had long refused their friendship, until the day in which Ichigo had decided to change that entirely. Rukia stilled recalled the moment vividly in her mind, Byakuya still hated the orange haired man she married, but could do nothing to break them apart. Ichigo would come to accept Hitsugaya Toushiro; he had to for the sake of keeping Karin happy.

"It is perfectly fine to feel that way, especially since she's still young," Rukia exclaimed.

He grunted simply, not wanting to really think farther into the matter and slowly realizing that it was better that way. Hitsugaya Toushiro owned his sister at least that much—it was still unreal to know that something like that had taken place in just a couple of months, but what about those parties that had gone forgotten?

"I wouldn't know how to react when our daughter gets into that age..." Ichigo looked up at Rukia, examining her face. Of course, it was hard to miss the discomfort that thought brought her since it was their small daughter. "Kazuki and Koji will be fine; they are great kids."

The petite woman sighed, looking at the other two children while they played and laughed while the world did not matter. Such innocence was hardly ever found, especially with the critical times that the entire human race was facing, but she couldn't find herself thinking negatively like that.

"We'll have time to worry about that in the future." She kissed him and snuggled up closer to her husband.

* * *

_Meh, it's been ages since I've updated and I'm terribly sorry. Spelling and rubbish like that--yeah, yeah I am aware, but seeing that school keeps me busy and now that I'm extremely crushed at this very moment. I'm the least caring to check that...sighs so tired. Exams start up again on the 29th, not enough time. My apologies for a very late update, but this story is nearing to it's end. Perhaps just two more chapters and it'll be over. I want to start another story that I've been thinking about quite recently, so yeah. Thanks for the support and just bare with me 'til the very end. Sorry for this being short! Off to try and finish the next chapter!_


	15. Strings

**Disclaimer: **My attempts continue to fail on owning Bleach. I will not give up, it hasn't been the last one yet! On with the chapter!

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

"If we are bound to forgive an enemy, we are bound to not trust him."

...+

+--Strings--+

All those days spent, wondering hopelessly about what the future looked liked felt like a fleeting memory of a childish dream—it was a simple minded thought that just suddenly managed to cross the mind. Perhaps it may be, perhaps it may not be in a matter of speaking, but to be frank it was simply a thought of the normal everyday life. Karin knew that for the most part that it was how life was—simple—nothing much that could be done about that either. In a faint memory, as far as she could recall, there was never the detailed wedding picture anywhere in any of those fantasies while she had been a child.

There was the fact that she often times play on the pretence of winning a soccer world cup, kicking ass at the regional tournaments, spending her days remaining under the stars without having any responsibilities. Frankly, life hadn't been like that compare to how it was now as she stood in front of the large mirror staring at herself with the wedding dress on. What was so special about this very moment? All the detailed descriptions on magazines and books were unrecognizable; those words were a little much simpler compare to the feelings that which she had at the moment, though she could feel nothing.

"Is the fitting alright?" Ishida Uryuu entered the room suddenly, a pin cushion on his hands, the measure tape hung around his neck and he muttered other things in a different language to the young assistant that followed him.

"Perfect, it's one word to describe this," she replied in great earnest. Her gaze turned back to the mirror as the tall man decorated her head with the veil.

Ishida did nothing more, simply admiring his work and the young girl that was almost like his sister as well. The day finally arrived though, no one had expected it to come this quick, especially since it had been planned in just a matter of days instead of those huge weddings that took months or even an entire year to plan out. Karin was never the one to fancy the big things, having everything look like those fairytale weddings that practically every girl dreamed off; of course, she wasn't even the closest to wish for one like that.

No one would expect a wedding to take place since no one even knew anything about it; especially since only the few closest friends were invited to a dinner—they did not even know that it was actually a wedding at all. Everyone had already begun to gather around the large room that which already had the tables being set up, but they were unaware that they were about to be moved into the other large room that had the doors closed.

Somewhere around the house, Toushiro walked aimlessly in circles in the large room that Kuchiki Byakuya had acquired to lend him for the day, thinking heavily on what was about to take place. Reconsidering the facts that many things had happen in the past, Karin still longed for him and wanted him just as much as he did for her, but there was this confusing feeling that he was trying to get past. What if he hurt her again? No, that could not happen now due to Kurosaki Ichigo, he would kill him in a rather painful death and then throw him off a bay to become shark's food; it couldn't happen. Except that it wasn't even the problem in the first place—it was that insecurity that could not go away.

During the entire day he had wondered if something bad would happen tonight, if someone would come along and just end with his life already. That shattered his thinking entirely as images of Karin's face appeared in his mind, she would cry and become so miserable if he were to disappear—that was heart breaking enough, let alone think about it. He shook his head, it was best to not think anything at this very moment and just allow his mind to be filled with happier thoughts.

His turquoise eyes stared at him back in the mirror—they were filled with unknown emotions that which had never existed there before, they were bright and happier unlike the past. The dark grey suit fitted him very well just like Ishida had said, but it was still unthinkable to be able to say that he was going to marry a wonderful woman. Things would never be normal in life again, not after tonight or the rest of the years to come, but there was nothing to complain about at all. He was happy. That was the main point.

"Ah, you're here..." Ichigo entered suddenly, dusting himself and looking at the young white haired man before him.

"What do you want, Kurosaki?" Toushiro asked, stuffing his hands on his pockets and walking to a nearby chair to seat.

The orange haired man arched his brow, scoffing softly and grinning suddenly. He walked over to the window, casting his gaze down upon the people that were coming inside the large room downstairs for the wedding; clearly having no idea about it of course. Exactly, what was the point of coming here? Right, Rukia had insisted on him having some words with the almost brother-in-law right at this very moment before handing his little sister to him to wed—he did not want to recall the time in which he had gotten married himself long ago. He shuddered at the shrewdness of his own brother-in-law; it was best to not even think about it any longer then it should.

"I'm not good with words," he stated mildly, without tearing his gaze from the window.

"That can't be any more obvious," the other replied in sarcasm, he crossed his arms tightly across his chest and waited for the older man to speak.

Ichigo turned, inhaling deep and then exhaling, this wasn't just easy to actually get around saying words that should convey a rather powerful message. He wanted to smack himself upside the head for agreeing to his wife's words, but it was either this or talks with Byakuya about the future of the Kuchiki household—for the nth time over the past six years already.

"Aren't you going to say something woefully stupid right about now?" Hitsugaya arched his brow, keeping his teal coloured eyes locked on those hard amber ones. It was simply a battle of male dominance; knowing that it would never go anywhere.

Ichigo sighed softly, smirking while walking towards his almost brother-in-law and patting his shoulder as he stood there facing the door. "Words would never be enough, but you might as well remember what I have told you a while back. One tear of sadness and I won't hesitate to acquire Byakuya's help to hunt you down and kill you for causing Karin pain, remember that well."

The white haired young man scoffed, pushing the man's arm away. "Like that'll ever happen."

The orange haired man laughed, reaching the door handle and opening it. Though, before leaving he stopped his momentarily laughter. "I'm beginning to like your spunk, shrimp. See you in a few moments." His laughter continued as he shut the door, quietly walking down the hall.

The young man scowled, but it turned soft at his strange brother-in-law to be who was threatening him; though he did not mind it for one bit. He stared at himself in the mirror again, fixing his tie and breathing deeply to relax. He walked to the door and opened it, closing it without much of a single glance of hesitation or fear.

+...

The soft music played as the guest aligned themselves suddenly inside the room; all chairs were decorated in nice colours that were both soft and hard at the same time. It looked extremely cosy inside, as the candles were the only things that lit the entire large room. Everyone murmured to themselves in complete shock or confusion as to why they were gathering inside the intimate looking room, but it wasn't hard to miss that this wasn't just a simple room at all.

"Karin-chan surely did a good job, don't you think Byakuya?" Hisana expressed, as both stepped inside the room with her husband carrying their son.

"Yes, it seems splendid. Simple—she's got a good head on her." The usually evasive man answered plainly, guiding his wife to the front seats of the room.

"Is this what you call decorating?" Renji entered next with his own wife and child.

"Aren't you the one to make arrogant comments on a beautiful moment like this?" Tatsuki scoffed, poking his side as to not drop their daughter. "Moron."

The couple took seats behind the Kuchiki family, while other close friends sat there as well. The whispering died down eventually, all the fifty guests were present as the bride and groom exchanged vows. It was quite a simple wedding, nothing over the top or anything overly done because it fitted well as the couple stood in the altar. Everyone silently admire the work, the wedding dress and the groom—they were almost unrealistic with the setting, but it was quite intriguing at the same time.

Karin could not think of anything else, simply staring at Toushiro's eyes as they exchanged their vows and allowed the moment to drift away softly. As they kissed, everyone got to their feet to clap their hands and cheer at the new couple. The dinner was completely filled with smiles and happiness; it was almost consuming to say the least until the unexpected couple entered the large room. Aizen Momo and Sosuke entered in a fashionable manner, looking rather poised and controlled. The young woman no longer looked childish like before; instead, she looked much more mature in many ways.

"It's a surprise seeing you in this kind of gatherings, Aizen." Isshin appeared to greet the couple, as everyone whispered amongst the music playing. "Welcome to the wedding, I hadn't known that you had been invited." There was evidence of dislike for the man, though it was very hard to actually tell the difference in his emotions.

"I invited them, Kurosaki-san." Toushiro appeared suddenly, holding onto Karin's hand. "Welcome, Aizen."

The older man smiled simply shook hands with the new groom, there was no friction between the two and acted rather civil about it. Karin shook hands with the man as well, though stared at Momo simply without much of a reaction at all. The other young woman smiled simply, bowing and introducing herself as though neither of them had ever met in their lives.

"Congratulations, Hitsugaya-san." Momo looked over at her ex-lover and smiled kindly. "May both of you enjoy a life of happiness and good health."

"Thank you," Karin grabbed Toushiro's hand. "We are glad that you two could make it. Please enjoy the dinner." The other couple bowed and walked towards the dance floor.

Toushiro looked at his new wife and smiled in honesty, it was new feelings having old enemies feel like distant friends; though there was still this feeling that he could not shake off. All the toasts were said and everyone ate merrily. As the night began to fade away, the new couple left without being noticed by anyone and quickly got into the limousine to take them to a hotel deep into the bigger city. They had decided against travelling for the sake of Karin's health; the real honeymoon would come after the birth of their child.

The young woman stared out the window for a second as the streets vanished into the distance, the city lights growing darker as the limousine was taking the highway. The young man leaned his face towards his closed palm, his teal eyes staring deep at his wife while she continued to stare out the window; it was strange feeling like this. Spending the rest of those living days with her were irreplaceable, they would mean so much in time and Toushiro felt extremely overwhelmed with the emotions floating inside of him; it was too much.

"Your mother did not show up," Karin commented, tearing her gaze from the window.

"I wasn't really expecting her to come," he answered. "It isn't easy to just pretend things hadn't happen, besides, I don't hate her any longer at all."

"Still, she could've called at least to say that she wasn't going to come." She leaned back on the seat and breathed in. "Perhaps it may have been better like this. I'm tired."

Toushiro pulled her closer to him, allowing his wife to lean her head against his shoulder as she closed her eyes. It wasn't going to take long to get to the city, until the limousine suddenly made an abrupt stop. The couple had fallen into a slumber; though Toushiro was very perceptive as his eyes snapped open suddenly and his head turned to look out the window. They weren't anywhere near a city at all, there was the sound of a river nearby, the cooing of an owl was easily heard and there were voices that were whispering.

Though, before he had the chance to open the door; it was opened widely by a man. The darkness made it impossible to see who it was, but there was the faint smell of liquor lingering as the random man grabbed a hold of Toushiro's collar and pulled him out of making Karin snap her eyes open. Everything happened so quickly, other men appeared and pulled out Karin from the car.

"Stop it, leave her alone!" He screamed as his wife shrieked. "Karin!"

Karin was struggling with the tugging the men were doing to her body, especially with her condition she was in no state to being manhandled roughly. Though, despite that, she fought with her strength to get away until she was pushed down to the floor. The pain ripped thru her stomach like nothing else before, her voice was strangled as she screamed in agony. She felt like a rock had fallen onto her stomach and crushed it, but she did not want to think about it.

The men that were holding her stepped back, watching the woman as she struggled to breath and trying not to scream again.

"Toushiro..." Her voice called out for her husband, wanting to be in another position but this. The fear that suddenly crept into her was unwelcoming—this could not be happening at this very moment.

"Karin!" Toushiro shouted again, mustering all the strength he could to beat the two guys that were holding him. In the dark it was almost terribly hard to see, though the moon started to peek out of the clouds.

His wife lay on the floor, breathing harshly and panting. She was writhing in the floor while holding onto her stomach. He reached her, manoeuvring her into his arms but slowly realizing that this wasn't going to end good at all as the white dress was getting stained in red. Karin started to shake, despite the pain; she could not scream any longer as air was coming to her in short amounts. She was scared, she feared greatly of losing their child at this very moment.

"A hospital, a hospital..." she whispered, wincing again and clutching her stomach. "Please...we need to save our child." Tears rolled down her face; her eyes looked hazed as her hand reached for his.

"The Mighty Toushiro isn't going to save her." A familiar vacant voice approached in the darkness. Teal eyes looking at the figure appearing from the trees, the man smiled widely as one of his hands held a shinny gun. "Isn't it just swelling seeing your poor little wife suffering, perhaps the little creature inside of her might die first if no one gets it out of there?"

He tried to pay no mind to Hinamori Jun's comments, though Karin was gripping his arm tightly as another screamed escaped her. Just then, Jun walked towards the young couple while watching the young man that owned him so much look so miserable with agony painting itself on his face with the tick of the clock. What else could he ever want with this? Of course, nothing would be enough to replace all those hard years of work; Hitsugaya Toushiro still owned him greatly for so many things.

"I might decide to save your wife and child, but there's something I want in return." He spoke carefully, watching the young boy closely as his face revealed nothing.

"You can't decide anything!" He looked up at the man. Jun was surprised to see him well composed, but did not react on it. "If both of them die tonight, you will not see another single day again."

The man snorted, pointing his gun to the white haired young man on the floor. It was the perfect moment to get rid of the brat, but there was nothing to gain from it now since his father was nowhere to be found at all. Except, using that little wife of his, perhaps it might lead to something bigger than planned.

"A child can't make wise decisions, but how about I tell you something much more interesting." He smiled candidly, pacing back and forth. He was highly aware that Hitsugaya Toushiro was much more powerful than his father, after the company joined the likes of Kuchiki Byakuya and Kurosaki Ichigo—it was a much bigger bargain for the most part. Whether he liked it or not, Toushiro would most likely give anything to save his wife and child.

"I don't want to hear it! Call a fucking ambulance!" Toushiro grounded his teeth harshly, holding onto Karin and trying to think of something. He could not bear to lose Karin or their child, not like this.

Jun smiled wider, pulling out his cell phone and opening it. "I might, but you know there's a high cost for this." The boy stared at him angrily. "What would you give me in return?"

Toushiro weighed his options at the moment, but he didn't have any money with him and needed to get Karin to the hospital quickly before losing everything. "Fucking name it and get on with it!"

The older man laughed, "I want 9,209,389,089.86 yen in one hour for my men, as for me, I want you to hand over your presidency to the company." The young man stared at his wife, she was starting to lose consciousness and it wasn't going anywhere like this. He wanted to scream so loud, to kill the man before him to end whatever game had begun so long ago. 

What else did Hinamori Jun want from him? The plot to kill him hadn't gone well, what else did he want from him just to let it all end? All the anger and fear mixed into one, his hands began to shake and his eyes could stare at nothing else. He did not care for money or power, Toushiro simply wanted to live with his wife and children alone somewhere else—or anything else but this. 

"Call the damn ambulance now; you'll get what you want in a matter of hours." He spoke softly, standing up and holding out his arm for the man to hand over the cell phone. "If my wife and child die, you will get nothing out of this." 

Jun laughed again, the boy surely was simple minded. "You're very wrong to assume that, because you will miss the very moment the child is pulled out of the womb and perhaps seeing how your other child grows up." 

"What the hell do you mean?" The white haired young man glared at him. 

"Because, I will see to it that you don't appear again so that I won't be blamed upon this." He tossed the phone on the floor. "Call quickly, or else you might lose both of them tonight and your son might not have parents by the end of the week." 

Toushiro picked up the phone, forgetting that there was a gun pointing straight at him or that his life was in danger. How could things turn out this way so quickly? Hinamori Jun shouldn't be anywhere near him, how in the hell had that enraged man managed to get him in this position? The ambulance would be on its way to the highway to pick them up, but Toushiro knew that it was all just talk. 

"Get us to the highway; they'll come there to pick us up." He stated, picking up Karin from the ground without knowing if it was safe to do so, but he couldn't think of anything else. 

He walked towards the limousine, setting down his wife on the car seat and trying his best not to do something stupid to get them out of there alive. He could feel the cold metal of the gun graze the back of his neck, it was cold and smooth. It smelled like gun powder, perhaps the man had used it previously. 

"I have decided against it," Jun spoke up in a mock like tone, grazing the boy's skin with the gun as if he was trying to get him to familiarize with the metal that was going to end up killing him. "Say good bye to your life and her life, Hitsugaya Toushiro!"

The click of the gun reverberated, the birds flew out of place and other small animals scurried away from the loud banging noise. In the silence of the night inside the forest, there was a dead body on the ground as a woman's screamed echoed throughout the forest. The ground was slowly being drenched in red. The strings to the puppet had been finally cut away.

+...

* * *

_Another chapter...sighs it just doesn't turn out the way that I want for it to be. Anyways, I'll like to thank KazeNoSakura for all those reviews on all the chapters! I'm amazed, and well thank you. Again, this chapter did not turn out like I wanted it to be, but seeing that I'm currently in a big mess right now; it's hard to concentrate and put all the much more detailed things on here. Who died? What's going to happen to Karin? The child? And, that was a lot of money...it is roughly a 100 million USD. I'm almost done, I want to be done to start another story; though with exams approaching and a school trip on Nov. 18 it'll be hard to get the last few chapters done. Thanks for reading! _

The older man laughed, "I want 9,209,389,089.86 yen in one hour for my men, as for me, I want you to hand over your presidency to the company." The young man stared at his wife, she was starting to lose consciousness and it wasn't going anywhere like this. He wanted to scream so loud, to kill the man before him to end whatever game had begun so long ago. 

What else did Hinamori Jun want from him? The plot to kill him hadn't gone well, what else did he want from him just to let it all end? All the anger and fear mixed into one, his hands began to shake and his eyes could stare at nothing else. He did not care for money or power, Toushiro simply wanted to live with his wife and children alone somewhere else—or anything else but this. 

"Call the damn ambulance now; you'll get what you want in a matter of hours." He spoke softly, standing up and holding out his arm for the man to hand over the cell phone. "If my wife and child die, you will get nothing out of this." 

Jun laughed again, the boy surely was simple minded. "You're very wrong to assume that, because you will miss the very moment the child is pulled out of the womb and perhaps seeing how your other child grows up." 

"What the hell do you mean?" The white haired young man glared at him. 

"Because, I will see to it that you don't appear again so that I won't be blamed upon this." He tossed the phone on the floor. "Call quickly, or else you might lose both of them tonight and your son might not have parents by the end of the week." 

Toushiro picked up the phone, forgetting that there was a gun pointing straight at him or that his life was in danger. How could things turn out this way so quickly? Hinamori Jun shouldn't be anywhere near him, how in the hell had that enraged man managed to get him in this position? The ambulance would be on its way to the highway to pick them up, but Toushiro knew that it was all just talk. 

"Get us to the highway; they'll come there to pick us up." He stated, picking up Karin from the ground without knowing if it was safe to do so, but he couldn't think of anything else. 

He walked towards the limousine, setting down his wife on the car seat and trying his best not to do something stupid to get them out of there alive. He could feel the cold metal of the gun graze the back of his neck, it was cold and smooth. It smelled like gun powder, perhaps the man had used it previously. 

"I have decided against it," Jun spoke up in a mock like tone, grazing the boy's skin with the gun as if he was trying to get him to familiarize with the metal that was going to end up killing him. "Say good bye to your life and her life, Hitsugaya Toushiro!" 

The click of the gun reverberated, the birds flew out of place and other small animals scurried away from the loud banging noise. In the silence of the night inside the forest, there was a dead body on the ground as a woman's screamed echoed throughout the forest. The ground was slowly being drenched in red. The strings to the puppet had been finally cut away. 


	16. It All Falls Down

**Disclaimer:** Maybe my dreams shall become shattered once again, I can't own Bleach!!! *goes off and cries*...Oh, here's the chapter!

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

_"Let it become a faint echo, slowly fading away with the strong breeze and become something of the past."_

...+

+--It All Falls Down--+

_The smile of the little boy held tenure, pureness, faith and so much life as those big eyes shone brightly with happiness of unknown cause. The feeling of wanting to reach for him, to touch him and embrace him tightly was so overwhelming almost like there was pressure for the action to being taken. His small hands reached out to be picked up and held onto, all the light that spread on his face was so warm and radiant it made the heart feel unease. A woman appeared, the mother of the child, smiling widely as she picked up the child and kissed his face. Her eyes held the same happy look, almost like no one would berate that happiness that held them together. _

_Toushiro did not want to forget that at all, the feeling of the gun behind his neck and his wife in pain. Though, just as the gun was about to be used, there was another shot heard from somewhere and all the men that were surrounding the limo took off running. Jun remained rooted on his spot, hand holding tightly on the gun as lights began to appear out of the forest. _

"_It's over Hinamori, drop the gun!" The sharp voice of a man called out. Many men now surrounded them. "Get those shitty blokes; they aren't going anywhere tonight." _

"_Take it easy, Kenpachi." Abarai Renji stepped out from the shadows, followed by a much larger man with ridiculous looking hair. "Drop it Jun, before our men take a shot and kill you." _

_Jun lowered his hand, turning to look at the police force and smiling widely. Toushiro paid no mind anymore as Karin was still straining with bleeding. Not even three minutes had gone by, but he needed to get her out of there. He wanted to hold onto all hope that was left to save her and their child, with all his might, he wanted this beautiful long life with his wife and children, grandchildren and growing old with his companion. Emotions were rarely shown in his face, but as Renji could easily note, Hitsugaya Toushiro cared deeply over his wife. _

"_Isane, get them out of here and to a hospital." The red headed man called over to the woman that appeared suddenly, branded with a gun and shield. Though, before reaching the couple; she dropped to the floor as the gun was pulled and a loud bang scared many small animals away and Karin screamed so harshly. _

_Hinamori Jun lay dead on the ground; the gun was still on his hand and quickly a puddle of his blood began to form beneath his body. That was over before it even began; the man had killed himself to not suffer the poor consequences of rotting away in a prison. _

+...

The warmth that surrounded the room was welcoming; the light that entered inside it made the room much brighter and much more peculiar to look at despite of what it really was. A couple occupied the room—a young woman laid on the hospital bed sleeping, while a young man sat there holding her hand and watching her sleep. It had been almost two days since the young woman had laid asleep, two days since everything in life looked as though it had ended entirely and two days of unhappiness in spite of what was supposed to be a happy moment in life. How much longer could he last looking at her sleep?

"Wake up, please." His voice was soft, it pleaded towards the girl with longing. "You have to see him; you have to see him..." A man entered the room; the look in his eyes was haunting and almost lost.

"No changes, Toushiro?" The man asked, shutting the door softly and walking towards the bed. "My lovely daughter..."

Toushiro looked up at his father-in-law, feeling the tears burn deep inside of him and his heart breaking slowly with helplessness. He couldn't afford to lose Karin because it would mean the end of his entire world, spiralling downwards to a path of destruction and self-hatred for being useless. Kurosaki Isshin stood behind his son-in-law, putting his hand on his shoulder and putting grip on it for comfort.

"How's the baby?" He asked, swallowing hard and trying not to think of the bitterness any longer.

"Kaito-kun is fine; he'll make it just fine." Isshin replied, trying to convince himself miserably over it. "Unohana-sensei says that he'll make it; he's a strong child except that I'm highly worried over Karin-chan."

The white haired young man turned to look at his wife again, staring at her pallid peaceful face and feeling with fear again. It was no use trying to torture one's self over this, especially since there was a new child to consider in the equation despite the lack of that feeling inside, and he shouldn't feel bad about anything at the moment. There were chances, the many specialists that had come, said over and over again in reassurance to the problem.

"Come on son, it is no use to stay all sad over this." Isshin walked towards the door, opening it and waiting for his son-in-law to kiss his daughter good bye for the day.

The entire family sat there too, waiting for a sign that would indicate that Karin would return to normal after suffering a near miscarriage and dying too. Everyone was holding onto that little hope that she would wake up soon, even though it had simply being two days; it was enough torture for them to endure for so long. The long halls of the hospital were almost empty, the smell of life and death hung in the air along with happiness and sadness too.

Ichigo stood by the wall, scowl in perfect place along with anger. Rukia sat on the small chairs there, holding onto their children as they stared down at the floor and remained quiet; while Yuzu sat there as well with her hands opening and closing on her lap. Even Renji and Tatsuki were present with them, looking just as haggard and worried like the rest hoping that Karin would wake up soon. Toushiro just couldn't stand still; all sadness would suddenly evaporate and replaced with anger at all of those men that caused this in the first place.

Hinamori Jun was dead, but that wouldn't replace all the damage that he had done over the past few months and perhaps even years. His daughter, Aizen Momo, had publicly apologized for all the harm that he had caused for many families who had entrusted his companies and such for capital gain; though she could not apologize for what they had done to Hitsugaya Toushiro and Karin. At least, Toushiro was grateful for her to suddenly apologize for a lot of things to him personally and visit him in the hospital to see how Karin was doing.

Though, all that remorse and hatred towards her father could not easily vanish in a matter of seconds or minutes. All this self pity was getting tiring. She would wake up no matter what because Karin wasn't a weak little girl—she had a virtue to continue on with life along with a purpose because she was strong willed for her own self without having to prove anything to anyone at all.

Instead, as he laid his head to sleep on the couch of the hospital, Toushiro thought about all the reasons why he loved her so much and would never stop this feeling. She was nowhere near perfection, not near the kindest people in the world with a big heart, she did not love flowers or poems—his wife was simply a woman with a strong heart. She loved family because it was an important part for her; she loved her brother dearly for being so great, she was strong and softy at times too. Her heart was bigger then she could ever imagine, he knew that much, but never actually admit that to her because she would blush hard and make a rude comment.

The hate for those fairytale things was quite amusing, the great loathing for pink and dresses was also part of the reasons she made him laugh so hard. Hitsugaya smiled widely at that because when she would wake up and see all of the flowers around; she would either punch him or scowled deeply about it with a blush on her face.

"Hitsugaya-kun, wake up." A motherly voice drifted into his thoughts suddenly. His eyes opened slowly, adjusting quickly to the semi-darkness in the lobby and shifting on the couch. Had he fallen asleep?

"What's going on?" His voice was soft, barely audible.

Unohana Retsu stood there, smiling at the young man and holding onto the chart of his wife on her hands. She waited patiently until he would become much more aware of what was going on, not like she wanted to make him feel all worried over the fact that his wife had finally awaken. His turquoise eyes stared around, trying to make his mind work again, but recalling the reasons as to why he was here.

"Are you coherent enough?" The doctor smiled, still waiting for him to react.

"I think so; I must've fallen asleep for long." Toushiro stretched his arms and stood up. "Is Kaito alright?"

She sighed. "Yes, he's perfectly fine. Sleeping as we speak, but Kurosaki-chan is awake."

"You mean, Karin, sensei?" He stopped thinking altogether to hear the woman correctly.

"Yes, she wished for me to not awake you, but it'll have been wrong on not doing so." Unohana commented, guiding him to another hall. "She's no longer in need to stay in that room; she seems fine. Ishida-sensei has been running tests over the lasting hours that she's been awake."

Toushiro stopped briefly, looking at her. "She's been awake for hours?"

"Yes, but Ishida-sensei wanted to make sure all the diagnostics were near perfection before giving the green light," she explained as they continued to walk.

They stopped in a small room, the doctor opened the door and he peered inside to see Karin sitting on a chair with their son in their hands. Somehow she looked different, much more motherly and move vivid despite the lack of colour to her still. He strode inside, calm and composed as to not panic or feel like this was simply a dream still. Slapping himself would perhaps be convincing enough; though he did not as she looked up at him and smirked just like her older brother would do at times.

Toushiro rushed to her side, embracing her and kissing her fully in the mouth; not taking notice that the doctor was still standing there at all—he did not care. All of that miserable time vanished quickly, as she smiled and stared at him with her dark coloured eyes and sighed.

"Isn't he supposed to be on the incubator?" He asked suddenly, realizing that she had their son in her arms.

"Ishida-sensei said that it was perfectly fine, Kaito is fine." She smiled at him, handing the small child as a nurse entered to take him away.

Karin couldn't hide her happiness, the over joy that flowed inside of her chest that felt as heavy as she saw her small son. His mop of white hair similar to his father's was, though he was a little too small to open his eyes fully still, but she wanted for him to look exactly like her husband. She stood up, feeling all the energy she had was to be wasted just for him as she embraced him tightly, trying to drown upon his warmth and never wanting to let go again. She had heard everything that had taken place merely about two days ago; about how she almost lost her son and her own life, how she hadn't awoken after her son was born—she didn't want to see any more sad faces anymore.

He pulled her out at arm's length, wanting to see her face clearly and seeing her eyes still as if trying to memorize her entire being once again. The shameless thought of losing her crossed his head again; Karin noticed this as the hurt expression on Toushiro's face appeared suddenly, so she touched his face as his gaze had lowered to make him look at her again.

"It was never your fault for this, don't beat yourself over it anymore." She expressed with the outmost honesty, as she fell backwards to the chair.

Toushiro reached out for her, but she shook her head at him. "I-you-I almost lost you." His voice was filled with bitterness as his head played the images of that night. "He almost killed you because of me."

The woman groaned loudly, bringing her hand to her forehead and massaging it. "Damn it, Toushiro, what the hell are you trying to imply here." Her face looked distasteful and angry.

The man said nothing, simply bending down on his knees and sighing again. At least that much hadn't changed and was grateful for it. "Never mind it." It was all he could muster up the courage to say at the moment without fearing a slip up on his words of fear.

Early the next day, the couple left the hospital without their child, as his small life wasn't out of danger just yet; so they could take him in definite home in two weeks for the most. Karin was eager to get home; despite of looking back at the hospital where her small son was left behind, but Yoshiro was waiting for her too. Looking towards the future, she stared at her hand and saw the silver band that decorated her ring finger and smiled widely.

Toushiro sighed in discomfort, wanting to go back to the hospital and wait until Kaito was out of danger and was able to go home with them. How comforting it was to see him, just like it was to watch Yoshiro strike out a large smile for everyone and looking sheepishly. Soon, he hoped, that everything would return to what it was supposed to be since the very beginning. He found his wife's hand; it was warm as he intertwined his fingers with hers. Her smile was welcoming, a beckon to the horrible storm that had just passed by so terribly.

"I love you." She expressed, leaning towards him and looking at his eyes. God, how much she could stare at those turquoise orbs and get lost on them.

Her husband touched her face with his free hand, tracing his fingers on her lips and pulling her towards him. Karin wrapped her arms around his neck, opening her mouth to allow Toushiro to taste her as she did so. It had been so long since either of them had felt the heat suddenly bubble up, as their hands touched whatever exposed skin they could while they were in the car and without overdoing it as to not get heated up suddenly. For a moment, they forgot about the world and all the danger that had just passed thru, they existed in a single plane of life without anything but them standing there.

Though, just as their moment of passion seemed to escalate, the door opened by the driver; who blushed immensely at the sight of the couple still kissing. The house hadn't changed much at all, only the weather seemed to have changed as October continued to roll by and soon the year would end.

"Karin!" Ichigo came out of the house, surrounded by his two sons and his wife. The two smiled brightly at her, the boys rushed to her side while throwing their arms around her.

"Karin-neechan, you're back!" Kazuki beamed, looking at the man besides her. "Toushiro-nii, welcome back as well."

Toushiro could not help but love those two, Kazuki and Koji were very much alike despite the age difference, plus they were important. He ruffled their hair, smiling as their father and mother came to greet them as well. Ichigo embraced him as if they had been brothers in some life, grinning at him and slapping him in the back. Karin hugged Rukia tightly, as the petite woman bit back tears of unknown joy that brewed inside of her heart.

"Karin, I'm glad that you're out of that rotten place." Her older brother expressed, holding his wife's hand. "It's been rather boring in this house."

Karin laughed. "I'm not going anywhere, who else would beat that goat chin when he's doing something ridiculous."

"Poor Isshin-san, he's going to suffer double now." Rukia commented with a smile. "Guess it's the balance of this crazy Kurosaki family."

They laughed as they entered the house, everyone had gathered around for the large Kurosaki dinner that had been organized. Renji and Tatsuki had joined into the festivities with their daughter, Rei. Byakuya and Hisana along with their son, Raito, had joined as well. Yuzu had offered the make the dinner on her own, despite the fact that it was a lot just on her own.

"Your ability in the kitchen really isn't that good, Karin-chan." She had exclaimed, as Karin had offered to help. "Besides, I offered to do so."

"Gah, Yuzu you are extremely bossy tonight." Karin huffed, forgetting the attempt of helping her sister. "Besides, I've gotten better."

The light coloured woman smiled kindly. "Yes, but it's your special night for coming back. So, please do as I say for once."

In defiance, Karin gave up the attempt and simply sat on the table besides her husband to wait along with everyone else for dinner to be served by her sister. Somehow everyone acted the same, of course, who wouldn't want a normal life again after all of that? Though, she couldn't forget it so easily like that in a blink of an eye. Why would anyone become so crazed up about gaining power and money?

She had wondered that shortly after waking up, as it seemed that she had been asleep for two days, but it hadn't been any pleasant to say the least. During that sleep, Karin had remembered exactly everything that had happened that night and how she nearly lost her son due to a man who wanted to get rid of her husband. The feel of that cold metal against the warmth of the skin, it made chills run down the spine as your entire body seemed to fear what was to come next. She shook her head, forgetting was at best.

"Are you alright?" Toushiro asked, as Karin turned slightly pale for a moment.

"I'm fine. There's no need to worry about anything." She reassured him and herself.

Suddenly, there was a big commotion as many servants rushed inside the dining room while muttering softly to someone. The entire family stood up, turning their heads as the large doors opened and a large group of people dressed in black entered.

"Where's Toushiro?" A man's voice called out, as the people dressed in black spread around the room to reveal an elderly man dressed in a pinstriped dark grey suit and a bald head. He held a cane, his eyes appeared to be closed and his figure exhumed power and fearlessness. "Ah, there you are son."

Toushiro stared wide eye; his gaze was hard and confusing at the same time. Karin stared at the white haired young man with curiosity, as his mouth moved in soft whispers.

"Great uncle Yamamoto, what are you doing here?" Toushiro's voice was much more different, slightly fearful.

Everyone in the room turned to him, all eyes staring at the young man as he walked towards the rather famous man. No one would believe that he would address the powerful politician that way, even Byakuya seemed surprised about this as his eyes examined carefully at the young man as he walked towards the elderly man. The elderly man shook hands with Toushiro, then patting him in the back with a small smile on his face as if satisfied to see him standing there.

"I've come to make sure that you're save son, as your father cannot come back." He commented, not paying much attention to the rest in the room for a moment. "He called this morning, busy with work in the jungles of the Amazon and could not call sooner."

"Oh, I hadn't known where he was in the first place." Toushiro answered lamely. "The office could've called, or perhaps anyone had heard from the news."

The older man chuckled in a raspy tone. "Anyone would be foolish enough to be blinded by the news, you still have a lot to learn child." His gaze turned to the table, seeing everyone staring at him and seeing familiar faces. "Urahara Kisuke, it seems that you remain the same as always."

The blond man in question said nothing, simply crossing his arms across his chest. "It hasn't been that long, Yamamoto-sensei."

"Still a prude child as well, can't say much about you—Isshin." He walked towards the table, examining the many faces that which he recognized so easily.

"It's been a while since we've spoken, but you remain the same old man from back then." Everyone nearly gasped at that.

"And forever the same, as for you—there's still no changes in that gruff attitude of yourself." Yamamoto turned towards the much younger audience. "At least your children turned out good perhaps that makes you satisfied with leaving so quickly like that."

"There are no regrets," Isshin added as he stared at his old mentor from his university days.

All of them stood there in silence, waiting for someone to break the suddenly silence that fell in the room. No one seemed coherent enough on doing so, instead, the older man moved around the room while examining the large room itself. It seemed many years since he had set foot in this particular house, so long that it had changed dramatically from what it had been before.

"Would you join us for dinner, Yamamoto-sama?" Yuzu was the one to break it, timidly offering the man to say.

"Since you've come to literally gatecrash this party, why don't you say—old man?" Isshin offered, smiling widely. "After all, you own me a great deal of missed meals all those years ago."

"You've become an arrogant man with no manners, so of course I tried to shape you," he took a seat at the end of the table. "Perhaps that was a blatant choice on my part, because your mouth hasn't changed at all."

Everyone sighed, Byakuya hadn't felt that tense since the birth of his son—it was highly strange to feel that emotion alone. His grey eyes stared down at the small boy besides him, who was frowning deeply as if understanding what was going on. In content, he smirked softly to himself and felt satisfied—Raito would be a great head of the company in the future. Renji on the other hand seemed sweating bullets, it wasn't everyday that the man on top would do civilian stuff—he was rather tense. His hand was twitching with fear, with awe at the man that everyone looked up as their leader.

"Ease un Pineapple, you're going to turn to a puddle." Tatsuki whispered at him softly. He glared at her, and took his seat again and everyone began to eat again.

The atmosphere returned back to normal, everyone chatted amicably and were merry with the celebration of the return of Karin from the hospital. It seemed as though those two days had never happened nor the near death experience—it was almost normal for the most part. Karin wanted to simply move on and forget.

...+

* * *

_Another chapter, another unpleasant one, but I'm done with the sad stuff and such 'cos I want to finish this!!! I'm not content with what it has here, but I can't do anything else. I've wrote, erased, wrote, deleted, wrote...so this is what I got after like 4 attempts so whatever. I want more happy, so that's what I'm going to put on the next chapter and I'm probably going to end it at 18 or 19. I just wanted everyone to unite on this chapter, though I wanted to add the other child on here, but couldn't make it happen hahaha. Anyways, until the next chapter...thanks for reading. _


	17. Silver Ring

**Disclaimer:** Bleach is owned by Kubo-sensei. I shall give up eventually XD, on with the chapter!

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

"Let us walk amongst the path, hold hands until the very end."

+...

_She didn't know what to do or what to even think about this strangely bizarre meeting. It wasn't exactly what she had in mind while getting that invitation at the office; the decision was sudden and could not avoid it even if she wanted to. Snow fell on the ground, everyone inside the quaint little tea shop hugged onto their jackets as they sipped the hot drinks they would order—of course who wouldn't? All there was to do was to wait patiently because this was certainly not to be expected. _

_Karakura remained the same just like the rest of the people, despite everything that had happen back in October; things just continued on as if nothing had badly ever happen. The winter days were slowly approaching in a faster rate, snow was already falling as thicker grey clouds moved and everyone was quick on making last minute things for the upcoming holiday. She sighed deeply, looking at the clock on her cell phone and debating whether or not this was a bad decision from the start. _

_The door bell rang as someone opened it, the owner of the shop greeting the young woman with brown hair as she was quick on rubbing her hands together to keep them warm. She smiled kindly at the man, spotting the young woman with dark hair and she walked up to her. _

"_Hello, Kurosaki-chan." Aizen Momo greeted Karin as she took her seat in front of her. She removed her long jacket and hung it at the back of her chair. _

"_It's Hitsugaya now, Aizen-san." Karin corrected her, holding out her hand for Momo to shake. _

"_Oh. Silly me," Momo corrected herself and shook the young woman's hand. "I'm terribly sorry to call you out of important things from your work, but I must discuss something with you." _

_Karin wasn't mildly interested on making peace with her or become friends suddenly, there was some bitterness that which she couldn't shake off due to Momo's father nearly killing her and allowing her unborn child to die as well—but perhaps she could not blame her for it. Momo stared at her former rival, perhaps she hadn't known that she thought of her as such, but couldn't blame anyone for liking her or finding her interesting. _

_She smiled again. "Are you not going to ask, Hitsugaya-chan?" There was no need to force herself to accept the fact that her former fiancé had married. _

_The dark haired young woman eyed her curiously, as if to find something mysterious about this meeting or finding something out of place just to start a fight. Though, Karin would not admit anything at the moment, but doubted if this meeting was intended to be friendly or just to be told to go to Hell—along those lines. _

"_Mildly curious, is all." She answered, picking up her cup of tea and sipping it softly. "But, do go on with whatever reasons you called me out of my office." _

_Momo chuckled softly. "Right, then I'll get to the point." _

_She wanted to clear things out, to be honest, she wanted to apologize for all the damage that she had caused Karin during the little time that had passed and for her own so called father, who tried to kill her. Of course, there was no way to take it back because it would be impossible—all she could do was to apologize. _

"_I'll like to apologize," she expressed as her brown eyes stared deep into the dark ones that belonged to Karin. "I know that perhaps you might not want to hear it, especially from me, but my words are honest. You make him happy, make him smile and have given him a life that I would never had been able to give someone like him—he deserves so much. And, frankly it is troublesome to even bother to apologize for the things that my supposed father did to you." _

_Karin sighed deeply, closing her eyes to think promptly on that. However, she found it completely unjustifiable and unnecessary because it was all in the past and Momo wasn't to be blamed for her father's doings. Though, maybe it was comforting to hear it from her because at least she was being the least honest over it. _

"_Neither of us holds it against you for what that bastard did," she muttered, crossing her arms. "Though, I thank you for doing this in person. That took courage to accept it, so I will say nothing more." _

_Momo sighed in relief, smiling again and stood up. "Well, I will be off. Sosuke and I will be moving to Santorini." _

"_That's great, I assume." Karin didn't know how to say things properly. "Best wishes then, but why not have some tea with me, after all, you were the one to call me out." _

_The brown haired young woman grinned, taking her seat back again and ordered some tea. Despite the fact that they would never become friends, maybe they could simply hold onto a little friendship of sorts where they could at least be able to talk without having to rip each other's throat out for the sake of keeping something to themselves. They were grown women now, married and with places in society that made them hold onto an image for themselves and representing their family names as well. _

...+

+--Silver Ring--+

Office hours were beginning to grow longer, tiresome and annoying as hell with a lot of paperwork. Turquoise eyes stared at the clock on the wall, it was a little past midnight and papers just seemed to be endless. He let out a groan, sitting on the leather couch and pressing his fingers on the bridge of his nose to think clearly. Five days with only three hours of sleep were taking their effect, his body felt groggy and extremely heavy to move around in the office—hopefully his health wouldn't become a problem soon.

"Oi, Toushiro, are you almost done?" Ichigo entered the room, carrying his share of papers and a cup of hot coffee on his hands. "Damn, a little too much paperwork this time around."

"It's been like that for five days straight," he said, inhaling some air and getting up—despite the complaints from his body trying to get some rest. "Karin is starting to get worried. With this kind of weather, she thinks I'm bound to get ill."

The orange haired man took a seat on the other table near the book shelves, dropping the stack of papers on the desk and drinking his coffee. There was no arguments on that part, his own wife continuously stated her own worries of him not taking care of his own health, but with the companies becoming one was a hassle on its own.

"Rukia tells me the same thing, though it's bothersome to have her worry over me so much." He smiled, recalling that cute angry face from his wife. "Ah, soon enough there'll be more people working for us and we won't have to stay up all night to do this kind of shit."

Toushiro scoffed, rolling his eyes and running a hand thru his white locks. He wanted to go home and see his two sons, get in bed with his wife and allowing her scent to sooth his worries. There was nothing more in this world then to be near his family; it was much more important now.

"I just wished this was over soon, or else I would force myself to drop out of the picture for good." He stated, continuing to work before literally falling asleep standing there looking out the window and into the night sky.

A normal life was nearly impossible with so much work to do, even Karin would find herself being stuck long hours in her own office, so he couldn't blame her for missing out a lot of dinners with him at all. Except, he was concerned that they weren't spending much time together and being a family; especially now since there was a new addition to their small family. Perhaps he should take a day off and be with them, he wanted that more than anything in the world at the moment.

Early the next day, Karin awoke with a start as she stumbled out of bed with the nightmare she was having. It had become apparent that she had been having nightmares since that awful day, despite the many attempts she tried to not think back on it. She looked over at the bed, seeing Toushiro still sleeping half naked and peacefully. His white hair was a mess, it had gotten slightly longer and was straighter then ever—she smiled to herself at the sight of her husband.

By looking at him, all those nightmares would become forgotten, she felt really happy waking up knowing that he would be there asleep after long hours at the office. Though, she would never admit that to anyone out loud. Sighing again, she ran her hand thru her long dark tresses and laid back into the bed. It was a damn Sunday; she wasn't willing to go to the office today despite the tons of meetings that had been piling up during the past week. Wasn't it the sole reason she had hired people was so they could do the job? After all, Karin was her own boss and it was her own small office building.

"What time is it?" Toushiro woke up, yawning slightly and rubbing his eyes.

"About seven, I think." Karin responded, snuggling deeper in bed and closer to him. "Do you have to go in early?"

He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her to his chest since there was barely time in the day to spend with her. They laid there in the bed holding onto each other, seeking out answers to unspoken questions, until Toushiro let her go and got up.

Karin said nothing, watching him walk around their room and looking rather tired with those dark circles under his eyes. Why couldn't he just take a day off? Today was his birthday, though she knew that he dislike a lot of attention and she said nothing about it. Quickly, she entered the shower alongside him, unable to really say anything despite of many things that could be said.

"Will you be home early?" She managed to ask, rubbing shampoo on her hair.

"Most likely, there isn't much to do." He answered, rinsing his hair. "Kuchiki said he would have everything done by today, but it's been difficult with the crossing taking place so quick like that."

She grunted a response only, finishing washing and stepping out of the shower to get dress quickly. Hopefully Kuchiki Byakuya hadn't said anything in particular, after all, it had taken almost nearly an entire three day begging for him to agree on giving her husband a short day at the office on his birthday and it had paid off well. Mostly everyone was aware of the party tonight, despite the fact that it was hard to keep everyone silent about it.

Kaito and Yoshiro were still asleep as she walked to their room; both of them looked rather peaceful and perhaps wouldn't awaken for another hour to the least. Certainly, she was glad that Kaito wasn't such a crier or woke up so many times at nights, so it was easier to deal with nights without having to wake up to make him stop crying. Carefully, without wanting to awake neither of them, Karin kissed their foreheads.

"They are quiet during the night, it's surprising." Toushiro entered, walking towards the cradle where Kaito slept at.

"You bet your ass on it, or else you would be waking up on and off during the night," she smiled, watching Yoshiro still sleep. "They are good boys, for the most part."

He smiled simply; staring at his two sons made him proud and happy it was overwhelming. How could two beautiful children be actually his? He watched their chests rising and falling in a rhythm; both of them look very peaceful he wished to take them both everywhere he went.

"Ohayo!" Cheerful voices suddenly called out.

"Kurosaki-sama, good morning," the maid appeared suddenly, ushering them to the dining room where breakfast was already being served. "Toushiro-sama and Karin-sama will be right with you momentarily."

"No need, we are awake." Both of them stepped into the dining room, taking their seats on the table.

"Morning, hope that neither of you mind the intrusion so early in the morning?" Rukia smiled, setting little Amaya on the baby chair.

"Not at all, you know that you're always welcomed." Karin responded, serving herself some orange juice. "Morning, Ichi-nii—what the hell happen to you?" She hadn't seen her brother for a couple of days, but he looked extremely pale and ill looking.

Rukia laughed slightly. Ichigo cut her a look, and then turned to his sister. "I caught a cold."

His young sister simply shook her head, it was clear that she hadn't approved much of having him and her husband stay out long hours without resting much or eating properly—but it was how work life was and couldn't have it fixed. Kazuki and Koji were taken to school by their father, Toushiro left to run downtown to pick up a new suit before going to work and Karin stayed behind alongside Rukia and Amaya.

"How's the wedding planning going with Tatsuki and Renji?" Rukia asked, as they sat on the dining area still.

"Hopefully they don't cancel on me." Karin smiled. "Renji and Tatsuki have issues with weddings; they think it's no big deal living together without being married. So, they constantly argue about it."

The ebony haired woman chuckled softly. "Yes they bicker a lot, but they love each other dearly."

"You're right about that, I should get going though." She stood up. "Don't forget to wear something red tonight."

Her sister-in-law winked, picking up the small girl. "Have a good day, Karin-chan, don't worry about the kids, I'll take care of them."

Karin mouthed a thanks, heading out the door into the cold day and off to work. There was only one meeting she wanted to take, which was with Renji and Tatsuki because she was rather excited about that particular project. They were so different compared to other couples she had met in the past, even much different than Rukia and Ichigo. Renji cared so much about his fiancée, loved her dearly to an extinct point of never coming back and could only think of her—at least Karin thought so.

While Tatsuki was hard headed on admitting she was head over heels in love with the red haired man; she would blush at the mention of cute things and Renji—except she never admitted anything. She expressed her love for him in a brute kind of way, which was comical half the time, but going a little overboard with it at times. So, they weren't normal to begin with.

The bridal shop where Ishida Uryuu would be found came into view, it was fairly large and looked very welcoming because it looked like an old ryokan home from the outside—Ishida had claimed it was to give the feeling of home. There was snow falling already, the sun would definitely stay hidden behind the thick clouds of snow and she appreciated that because of her husband.

"Ah, welcome Hitsugaya-chan." Ishida was back in town from Milan; again.

"Karin, formalities don't work with me well." She smirked, removing her flats at the entrance. "Has Tatsuki arrived yet?"

The raven haired man stood up from his spot, as his hands were busy with black satin. The mannequin in front of him was already in progress—she admired his quick skills with a needle and thread.

"Trying out the dress—again," he sounded slightly exasperated and tired. "Perhaps in a minute or so she'll be out."

She nodded simply, taking seat on the small stools that were around the shop. "How was Milan?"

"Hectic, fashion shows always tend to be like that," he chuckled, sewing some frills on the bottom of the black dress. "What about you?"

She scoffed, crossing her arms and folding her legs. "Busy with parties, events and crazy people who get on my last nerves."

Ishida nodded simply, focusing solely on finishing the dress for some actress that had wanted one of his dresses. It was rather bizarre how everyone was so famous on their own, he had never imagined himself become part of that elite circle. Back in high school, they were simply kids coming from high economical backgrounds without a direction to really follow—his was established to become a doctor like his father—but it wasn't something he longed for.

Everyone back then was naive and senseless, deciding a future wasn't really something none of them had cared for until after graduating high school. He recalled briefly that some of them actually could not lead a free spirited life, but Ichigo was doing fine alongside Rukia. Inoue had wanted to stay in the culinary business, until she had become interested in his work—so what was best to do but become a consultant. Renji and Tatsuki were predicted to become pro-players in soccer teams or something crazy like that, but they had settled down in a normal life by having Renji become a cop and Tatsuki a karate teacher.

The list went on: photographers, writers, models, news reporters, drama stars, lawyers, doctors...and so on. Finally, he spotted the white dress out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Tatsuki looking almost as though she would cry at any second; though with pride it would never happen.

"I—I don't know what to say..." she was clearly lost in words herself, so he would give himself a pat in the shoulder for that.

"You look amazing, Tatsuki." Karin commented, standing up and admiring the dress herself. "I'm sort of jealous right now...Renji will not pay attention during the entire ceremony with you wearing that."

The woman blushed, looking at herself in the mirror and seeking out her true self there because the woman standing in front of the mirror was clearly not Tatsuki. Of course, Renji would never let that go until the end of time, but she didn't really mind it. That red headed baboon could never look at another woman in the first place, so it was hard to tell how he would react.

The two women went into discussing the details of the wedding, which was much to discuss in the very first place seeing that Tatsuki had been planning her wedding for over a year already, but never got around to actually finish it due to divertive problems with Renji regarding the wedding. This time, she was set for it to go all the way with no backing out of it—she was going to make sure of it.

+...

Elsewhere, Toushiro was getting a bizarre feeling that kept on crossing his mind. So, it was his birthday and things were supposed to feel great—in a matter of crazy and stupid thinking. Frankly, he didn't give a damn about the day being great or not; all he wanted was to get home and sleep the entire day. Kuchiki Byakuya walked besides him without speaking, his long raven hair hung loosely around him and all the women in the office watched him.

"Kuchiki-sama, Hitsugaya-sama there's a man waiting for you in the meeting room." The receptionist announced, as they entered the last floor in the large building.

"Who is it?" Byakuya asked, fixing his already tidy black tie.

"He calls himself Ryuu, said that you might know him." She answered, typing quickly across the keyboard of her computer. "All meetings in the morning were taken by Kurosaki-sama, Hisana-sama called to say that she will not make it for lunch. Urahara-sama called to make an appointment."

"Hitsugaya, if you don't mind take the meeting. I'll deal with the pending paperwork left." The raven haired man picked up the piece of paper with various numbers on them.

The white haired young man agreed, walking the opposite direction and heading to the meeting room. The black tile floors were smooth, they gleamed underneath the fluorescent lights from above and they were spotless. His eyes wondered directly at the two doors at the end of the hall, they were becoming blurry with the lack of sleep and he let out a yawn.

Sleep for this week had been non-existent due to working long hours, but he did not mind the weather outside so much. In fact, Toushiro preferred the long cold days instead of hot days during the spring and summer—he hadn't found a clear explanation as to why he enjoyed the cold instead of the warmth. Snow was falling again; the ominous sky was bleak and seemed to indicate that it might snow all night. Pushing the doors, he saw a man with medium length white hair tied back in a ponytail and a black suit standing by the large window overlooking the bridge.

"Are you, Ryuu?" His voice was hard.

The man turned, his eyes were familiar along with his face. Toushiro's eyes widen at the sight of his father, his hand twitched slightly and his mouth open a little bit in shock. Hitsugaya Ryuu stood in front of him, smiling and looking differently than he had recalled him in recent days.

"Hello, Shiro-kun." He greeted him by using the old nickname he had called him when Toushiro had been younger.

"O-otousan..." Toushiro's voice trailed away, unable to even fathom the idea of his father coming back. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Ryuu smiled at his son, walking away from the window and approaching him with ease. It had been simply a few months and the child was acting so lost, he smiled to himself for being able to do something like that; yet he could not help but also admire him greatly. What was there to say? Ryuu was simply proud of the young man for holding up on his own without the guidance of no one, to make the company greater unlike no other and for staying the same as well.

Toushiro was growing up, he looked much more mature of course and he could clearly see that he would grow old if he didn't get enough sleep. He spotted the silver band on his left hand; of course, his son had finally gotten himself a wife and looked happy.

"Life isn't always about work, boy," he muttered as he stood in front of him staring at those intimidating turquoise eyes and smiled. "Have you forgotten what I taught you?"

Toushiro hesitated on his answer, staring at his father standing before him was getting a little difficult to process. His disappearance had been haunting his mind for a while, in spite of his lack of actually bothering himself to find his father. The lack of commentary got Ryuu slightly worried, despite the angering look that appeared on his son's face.

"Where the hell have you been?" Toushiro asked harshly, turning away from his father.

"Here and there, trying to recall my purpose of life," he stated, crossing his arms. "Trying to find the reason as to why I am supposed to be living in this world for. Soul searching in a matter of speaking, despite the lack of common sense and the obvious answers in front of your eyes."

"Finally come out of hiding now that that bastard is dead, have you not?" Toushiro's voice suddenly was soft and cold. "I will not accept your excuses anymore, not in this lifetime at least."

Ryuu sighed, comprehending his words well. "However, I still hold power."

The white haired young man breathed, it was a bothersome subject and a bothersome morning in the first place to deal with rubbish like that—so he did not press further for an argument.

"Whatever is it that you want?" He turned to him.

"I want you to resign your post," the man spoke with clear words. "If you know what's good for you—if you want to continue with the wife of yours and having your children depend on you during their lives. Don't make the same mistake as I did, son."

Toushiro scoffed again, muttering something under his breath and crossing his arms. "You never change, Ryuu. Do what you like, this wasn't my company in the first place and I shall not come between you and the presidency."

"Awfully strange to be generous, also, strange for you to not fight it," he commented, leaning forward on the balls off his feet. "Why's that, Toushiro?"

"I have no desire to become the great man that you are; therefore, I refuse to fight you at this very moment." He answered, stuffing his hands on his pockets. "You're a predictable man, which is why I have not signed a full contract with this company."

Ryuu scoffed; of course the boy was much smarter than believed. He grinned briefly, extending his arm for the young man to take.

"What? Aren't we going to make a voice agreement?" The man said to his son.

"Whatever," Toushiro shook hands with his own father; briefly recalling something.

"_Do you not want to make you president?" The old time lawyer that had handled the Hitsugaya Corp. Business asked. _

_Toushiro paced around the office, thinking about the various things in life that would drift away with having to take care of the entire business all on his own. Of course, he couldn't bring himself to do it because there was this feeling that he couldn't quite put his finger on; only that accepting this would not do anything good. _

"_No, I will help lead this company, but I do not wish to become president of this company at all." He spoke his words clearly, staring at the man's brown eyes with hardness. "My father has not met the terms of the contract himself; I was to become the president if he were to die. Therefore, the post shall remain vacant until his return." _

_The lawyer stared at him curiously. "Do you really think he'll come back?" _

_Toushiro smiled, stopping at the window and looking out into the darkening sky. "It's simply a sense I get, nothing more." _

"_Very well, I shall not question your motives any more," the man pulled out some papers and continued on with their meeting. _

Toushiro had always known that his father would return, despite the lack of confidence on that choice alone; though he was glad that he hadn't accepted to become the president of the company. Though, he had put claimed on heading the company with whatever movements it needed as his father's instructions had been set long ago. He would hand it to his father though; he was a smart man who thought beyond the usual things in life.

"Happy Birthday, Toushiro." Ryuu congratulated his son, pulling him into a sudden hug.

"Thank you," he expressed, staring out the light that was trying to escape past the thick clouds of snow; but it seemed as though they would fail miserably in no time.

* * *

_Long chapter...err...I think! Well, I am nearing the end so yeah. I just wanted to get this over with and I know that there was a lot of OCCness, but oh well. School was hellish this week, so I would've posted this earlier. Sighs, oh well. I'm starting on the next chapter, which is titled "Red Winter" and it shall contain the birthday celebration :D. Well, that's all. Thanks for reading!!! Also, I'll probably post the next chapter in 2 weeks seeing that I have a trip to take that will last 5 days, and I won't have a damn computer. So, until next chapter!!_


	18. Red Winter

**Disclaimer:** Failing to own it, damn it! Last chapter everyone, enjoy!

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

"_Happiness depends upon ourselves."_

+--Red Winter--+

The smaller ballroom in the Hollow Plaza was painted in all red. There were large bowls of red candles that were placed around the room; the round tables were decorated in crème and red colours, while the centre pieces were small vases with red and white roses. Around, there was red satin draping down the railings of the upper part of the ballroom, while large 18th century chandeliers had replaced the newer versions that had originally decorated it previously. There were about 40 tables around the entire ballroom, while a small stage for the orchestra had been set up.

Karin sighed, adding the final touch to the large table where the entire family would be sitting at along with the closest friends. All of that had taken three weeks of planning; after all, she wanted this to be extremely special because it was her husband's birthday and the first one that they would celebrate together.

"This turned out pretty good," Momo appeared suddenly, carrying some silverware on her hands. "And, thank you for inviting me over to do this."

The dark haired young woman turned, grinning slightly and crossing her arms. "Just because I owned you for the tea, so don't get too comfortable with this."

"Hai-hai, don't let it worry...Hitsugaya-chan." She smiled kindly, setting the silverware on the tables that still had missing ones.

In a matter of hours, this place would be filled with people dressed up in fancy dresses and dancing to classical music; it was decided to fit the general suave image that everyone saw on Toushiro—therefore she had decided to do something classic. Besides, it wasn't really much of his taste to like wild theme parties or something like that.

"Well, that's all." Momo expressed, wiping her forehead and sighing with a smile. "We shall leave, to get ready and come back on time."

Karin turned to the brown haired young woman, nodding at her and pulling out her cell phone. "You better make, or else apologies won't be accepted this time around."

Momo smiled, nodding and taking off home to prepare herself along with her husband to come to the birthday party. She had admitted in a matter of hours and minutes, that Karin wasn't such a bad person and actually was very kind who cared a lot about people despite her outward appearance. As the cold wind rushed past her, Momo sighed again trying not to think again about the past. Despite the fact that she was married to a wonderful man; sometimes she couldn't stop to wonder about how life would've been if she had married Toushiro instead. Though it was useless to think about it, especially now—he was in love with that woman.

Karin had rented out a room in the Hollow Plaza, seeing that she wanted to spend the night alone with him without having to worry of waking up early or anything at all—it was just for him. Staring at herself in the mirror, wearing the floor length red dress, while her hair was done in soft curls as it had gotten longer again. The ruby necklace that she had gotten from her sister-in-law last year from Christmas would go well with the dress, along with the ruby pendants that her sister had gotten her. It was practically a waste to buy jewellery because she didn't like it much.

There came a knock on the door. "Karin, are you almost done?" It was Ichigo's voice that came thru the other side of the door; it was hard not to miss his great dislike for large parties.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked, as she opened the door to let him in.

The orange haired man scoffed, scratching his head and fixing the ridiculous bright red tie that his dear wife had put on him by force.

"He better have a good time, or else I'll use this fucking tie to choke him to death." The man glared at his sister, roughly stating his words.

His sister faked a gasp. "You will not kill my husband; now shut it before I decide to kill you instead."

"You aren't capable, now when will that guy get here?" Ichigo sat on the small couch that was near, playing with his spiky orange hair to kill time.

Karin began to apply some make-up on, despite the fact that she didn't like it much either. Amber eyes stared at her curiously now, why couldn't people accept that sometimes she had girly moments—though they weren't on regular basis.

"What?" Her eyebrow arched, confusing and frustration suddenly mixing with her facial expression.

Ichigo said nothing in return; simply leaning back on the couch and closing his eyes to get at least some sleep before the party. Perhaps it was odd, but Karin had changed dramatically during the past few months and couldn't help on noticing it because most of those changes were slightly obvious. Frankly, he didn't care as long as she was happy with whatever bizarre things that she did, but he would have to thank that white haired bastard for it too.

"Tch, don't fall asleep you idiot!" Karin muttered, flicking his forehead.

"What the hell!" He yelped, rubbing his forehead and groaning. "I was almost asleep."

The dark haired young woman scoffed, uncased by her brother's behaviour. She threw him a box, picking up the key card for the room along with her red beaded purse.

"Let's go, before the party starts." She stated, walking out of the room with a nonchalant expression.

+...

Snow continued to fall occasionally; the lanterns in the street were already turned on despite the sky still not turning dark. His watched indicated that it was simply four o'clock in the afternoon, but it was early enough to leave the office without having Kuchiki drawl on forever with lectures about punctuality and setting examples to the other workers—now it was all to his father to hear that. Sighing, Toushiro flipped open his phone as the car turned left on the corner of the street to take him home.

There were three rings, until the voice he sought to hear answered. "_Toushiro_, _where_ _are_ _you_?" Karin's voice sounded awfully warm; he hated to hear that sweet condescending voice over the phone.

"Going home, why?" He asked, despite his slight curiosity at the tone of her voice.

"_Well_..." her voice trailed away and soon he was filled with that curiosity that was practically eating his thoughts away. Though, Karin began to speak again and explained to him to go to the Hollow Plaza for a dinner date.

Dinner dates were not ordinary, so he didn't find it odd for his little wife to suddenly invite him out like that, but he quite liked it. That would never be admitted to Kurosaki Karin because she would kick his ass for it, so there was no need to ask anything more. The white haired young man told the driver to take him to the hotel; at least his birthday wouldn't go in vain without having to spend time with that special person.

The front doors of the hotel were fancy; of course, the man that owned it was much more classic and extremely obsessive about the image of the place. Except, Toushiro did not want to waste his time thinking, all he wanted was to see his wife.

"Welcome sir, do you have a reservation?" The receptionist of the restaurant asked, as she looked at him carefully.

"I'm looking for Hitsugaya Karin, is there a reservation under her name." He replied.

The woman flipped open the guest book, there wasn't any reservation made under that name. Though, she had recalled her superior informing her about telling Hitsugaya Toushiro to report to the ballroom.

"I'm terribly sorry, but there are no reservations under that name," she said, closing the book. "Are you, Hitsugaya Toushiro-sama?"

"Yes," Toushiro stared at her oddly.

"Very well, please come with me sir." She stepped out of her station and walked towards the ballroom that had been reserved for the night.

Toushiro followed the woman, confused as to why Karin had said to go to the restaurant in spite of the fact that she wasn't even there; he would have a talk with that woman soon. Gradually, his temper was becoming a little off because wherever they were heading seemed too far away. They had crossed so many floors, passed a few parts of a large lot to another side of the hotel and into a small garden—who knew that this hotel was actually pretty big deep inside.

"Where the hell are we going?" He asked, merely trying to keep his cool. The attempt was failing miserably though.

"Patience shall be rewarded, we are here." The woman stopped by two large doors. The lights from the trees that surrounded the area were bright; therefore he could see the detailed on the wooden doors.

That was bizarre, why would Karin bother herself to do some kind of date night in a large looking place? Except it was best not to ask, the woman had long left without him noticing.

"Oi, what the hell..." he muttered, hearing footsteps from the side. A shadow appeared, it was closer and he simply stood there like a lost child.

"Toushiro," Karin appeared wearing a black long coat, a smile planted on her face. "About damn time you arrived."

He stared at his wife, briefly recalling the times that which she had dressed up nicely before—but nothing compare to how she looked at the moment. It was rude to stare, a little childish to stare so strongly like that; but it was nearly impossible not to.

"What's going on?" His composure remained, as his wife approached him.

Karin grinned, hooking her arm on his and staring at the doors. If things went well, without having her husband starting to question or doing something to prevent him from entering the doors—someone would be in trouble tonight. Toushiro did not speak as she led him towards the doors, it was odd, but he would go with it despite the curiosity that was brewing inside his mind.

Before there was a time for reaction or questioning, a lot of people cheered and screamed his name along with birthday wishes. The lights turned on to reveal the decorated ballroom and the orchestra began to play softly in the background, in a rush, people began to congratulate him and saying a lot of things at once.

"Happy Birthday, Toushiro." Ichigo appeared from the crowd, handing him a cup of champagne. He received it with a thanks.

"Congratulations, Hitsugaya-dono and for many more years to come. I wish you health and happiness." Rukia appeared, holding Amaya in her arms as she played with the ruffles of her mother's dress.

"Happy Birthday," Kazuki and Koji said at the same time, smiling at him.

He looked down at them, smirking slightly. "Thank you, everyone." It was rather strange because no one had bothered themselves like this before. Everyone was dressed in red.

All those past birthday celebrations had felt like going to simple dinner meetings; especially since most of the people that which attended the celebrations had been older people who fancied talking about business. They hadn't felt any warm or happy at all, they were slightly offhanded and cold at the same time.

"There's the birthday boy, congratulations son." Isshin appeared, carrying Kaito and holding Yoshiro's hand.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-san." Toushiro expressed, holding out his hands for Kaito. Yoshiro let go of his grandfather's hand and walked towards his father.

"Call me father, please." The man laughed, as he stared at his daughter and son. "It makes me happy seeing this, and Masaki would've been proud."

"Thanks, Oyaji." Karin grinned.

She stared at her husband, marvelled by the sight of him looking strangely happy as their two sons were by his side. Of course, she was happy to finally be together like that without having to worry about other people trying to come between them at all. The choice of celebrating his birthday had been proper; after all, she thought he had deserved it for being such a wonderful person. Besides, she wanted to share his special day with everyone else.

"Yo, sorry for being late," Renji appeared along with his future wife and daughter.

"This man takes forever to drive," Tatsuki grinned mischievously, as her daughter giggled.

The red headed man frowned. "Only because it's dangerous, damn woman." He turned to look at Toushiro. "Congrats, nice birthday party,"

"Thank you, for coming as well." Toushiro answered.

The party began to get entertaining as everyone danced to the classical waltz, then the orchestra took request to play jazz and attempts at playing modern songs as well. Everyone laughed and smiled; Karin couldn't help it but feel excited and thrilled for making this something successful quick. She danced with Toushiro, then with her brother, Renji—even with Byakuya himself; he was exceptionally good at it.

Toushiro felt overjoyed, never had he expected for his birthday to feel like this in a million years. He found the theme to be slightly Christmas-like, but what the hell it would simply come in two days and might as well make it feel like it. There were speeches made by his father-in-law, that idiot of his brother-in-law and his wife, Karin, Byakuya along with Hisana; but the one that shocked him the most was Momo's appearance there.

"What is she doing here?" He asked Karin as Momo entered along with her husband.

"I invited them," she simply replied, slipping away from his side and going to greet the guests.

He cocked his head, confused as to why she was acting nice to the former girl he had dated and whose father almost killed her. Except it was better to not ask, mainly due to actually accepting the sight before him—perhaps his sanity was finally heading downhill for good.

"Hello, Hitsugaya-san." Momo smiled, holding out a rectangular box; much to his chagrin of disliking presents wrapped in metallic paper.

"Thank you, Aizen-san." Toushiro took it, despite his own discord with the woman before him. "Welcome, Aizen." His greeting was indicated to the man, who kept his usual placid smile on his face.

"It is not about us, Hitsugaya-kun." Aizen smiled, shaking hands with the much younger man. "As always, Hitsugaya-chan, you always outdo yourself." He directed that to Karin.

The young woman simply smiled, standing beside her husband and looking up at him. It was much better having such amicable conversation instead of arguing about some nonsense; she felt compelled to keep it that way as everyone began to pick up the party once more. At the very end, everyone sang at the main character of the party and he blew out the candles of the mountain size cake in front of him. The room was loud with everyone's cheers, laughter and whistling. Slowly, much into the late night, some began to leave the party to go on home. Without anyone noticing, Karin grabbed Toushiro's hand to pull him out of the room and into the cold night slowly fading away.

"Where are we going?" Toushiro asked, as she pulled him down a small path the opposite direction of the party room.

She began to take long strides, turning to walk backwards and smiled so happily. It had felt forever, since everyone would leave him alone practically the whole night; but finally they were alone. There was nothing much to say because he could easily see that she had other things in mind, everyone else would soon be forgotten as they would exist in one simple plane—he felt their relationship and marriage to be like that. No one else matter—it was all about them.

The thick clouds had not moved, snow began to fall again as Karin stumbled with the long dress while pulling her husband deeper into the small park inside of the hotel. The air began to grow cold; Toushiro could see his own breath with the little light that penetrated the darkness of the park. Finally, she stopped abruptly almost causing him to bump into her.

"What are you doing?" He asked, desperate to get an answer out of his wife. Though, she did not speak again and sighed in content.

They hadn't spoken much, despite of how attached they had been the entire night and she hadn't even said anything regarding his birthday at all. As he opened his mouth, Karin turned to stare at him with a much different expression then before; much like the one he remembered so long ago on the very first night he had met her.

Suddenly, there were flashes of that memory so long ago. The feeling of her soft skin under his calloused fingers, her soft moans filling his ears with an agonizing sweet sensation as their lips devoured each other up. The music had long gone disappeared, the smell of alcohol and cigarettes lingered still on each other's skin and she soon began to pant loudly. He clearly could never forget that so easily, much to his distaste after having her disappear from his sight for so long.

"It seemed ages ago, since that one time," she spoke softly, stretching out her hand to touch his cheek. "Though I am content with where we are now."

He nodded in agreement, pulling her into an embrace. "I do not regret anything, and never will." Toushiro stared down at her dark eyes, seeing different feelings mixed on them. He kissed her, softly at first.

Karin wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing herself much closer so his body heat would warm her up. He tasted that same feeling from back then, it was comforting and welcoming as well—never did it compare to the many others he had ever kissed in his life; though it hadn't been many. Toushiro kissed the sides of his wife's face, her neck, nipping softly at the soft skin there while making her groan in comfort.

Sometimes he would sit there and think in that office: was Kurosaki Karin really his wife? It was still a thought that felt far away, distant because sometimes things still felt unreal compare as to how she was desperate to rip his coat off. Though, as much as he wanted to be wrapped around her, Toushiro had to pull away from her before doing something like that out in the cold.

"Oh, sorry," she expressed in embarrassment.

He chuckled softly, running a hand thru his white hair. "We're married, there's no reason to feel...awkward like that." Okay, perhaps that had ruined the moment, but he didn't care. "Perhaps a warm enclosed space might do, but not out here."

Karin wanted to slap herself, of course, inside would be much better. "You're right," she sighed, fixing her coat as the wind picked up speed. "Come then, let's go inside." She held out her hand for her husband to take, without hesitation he did and followed her inside the hotel.

The few people that remained out and about during the late hours of the night, watched as the young couple walked in elegance and some grace that was odd about them. Though, no one paid much attention to their disgruntled appearance. The room was large, since it was a suit, but Toushiro did not pay any more detailed attention as Karin kissed him passionately.

So much time had passed already; all of those bad things seemed to have faded away and were replaced by better days unlike the rest. There was no need to worry about seeing red, having to look back to their own shadow or worry that someone unexpectedly would appear out of nowhere and point a gun to them. It was easier to deal with life now—together—no longer caring about other things but only themselves.

Teal eyes stared deep into the dark eyes, both filled with love and passion known to them one night years ago. Somehow it was like they were living the same memory from then, their bodies seeking each other out in the darkness, their clothes rained everywhere in the room and they were so deep into a state of unknown happiness. Karin felt like forgetting all the past, replace it with the present and continue on with the future without looking back upon the bad things. Toushiro wanted nothing more but to spend his life in this very moment, feeling like nothing in the world would come and crash it down.

Moans and grunts filled the silence; two bodies were joined as one as both of them shared the same feeling that had existed there long before; only it was different now. She dug her nails into his back, shaking with the awakening feeling that seemed to have disappeared; only there was no time to think about useless memories at a time like this. He kept his speed—slow and fast—filling himself inside of her without worrying about tomorrow. They existed together in a memory so far away; yet that was replaced by the memory now. By tomorrow, they would exist still in the same place with all the faces that they both knew.

"Toushiro..." Karin whispered softly, overwhelmed by the feeling that came into her.

"Karin..." Toushiro stared at her eyes, unable to say anything else.

This was the place where they wanted to be, where no one was allowed to enter to invade their space because they existed there.

"Happy Birthday, Toushiro." She expressed into the night.

...+

Christmas came and went; the New Year began just the same. Everyone seemed indifferent with the beginning of another year again, despite the fact that everyone was rather in a rush with the wedding to take place in a matter of hours. A small family of four walked along the sidewalk, two small boys giggling and two parents looking rather content. The young woman held onto the smaller baby, simply a three month old child with white hair and dark green eyes. The young man held the much older boy, his black hair and much lighter coloured eyes held curiosity on them. Each of them was dressed formally, as they were attending the wedding of the family friends.

"Are you sure they'll be married?" Toushiro asked, curious about the wedding.

"Yes, Ichi-nii and Rukia-neesan will make sure of it." Karin stated firmly, stopping across from the church where people were already arriving. "Besides, Renji and Tatsuki have to get this over with soon—or else they'll be the laugh of the town. You know how people are."

The white haired young man nodded; of course this town was rather critical when it came to things like that. They walked towards the church seeing familiar faces within the crowd; some were unknown seeing that Renji and Tatsuki had friends outside of their own circle. Toushiro did not mingle in the crowd because he disliked large gatherings like that, so he walked off with his son at hands while a few women eyed him curiously—much to Karin's distaste.

"My, isn't that Hitsugaya Toushiro?" A woman with light colour hair spoke.

"Mm, yes that is him alright. He looks even sexier in person." Another woman replied, twisting a few strands of her hair between her fingers.

Karin frowned, wanting to beat them up for speaking so lewdly like that about _her_ husband—she often stated that she was the only woman that could say that. He would laugh of course because he didn't really know how good looking he was; only Karin wouldn't say that in front of his face for obvious reasons. That kind of behaviour was rather obscene, but she couldn't help it.

"Hitsugaya Karin," Kira Izuru appeared in the crowd with a video recorder on his hands.

"Oh, Izuru," she expressed in complete surprised. The two women who were speaking earlier turned at the mention of the Hitsugaya surname. "Where the hell have you been?"

The blond man shrugged, pointing his finger at the spiky dark haired man with the tattoo on his face. "That idiot and your sister, I caught them in Cambodia last week before coming here."

She arched her brow, what the hell was Hisagi Shuuhei doing with her twin sister? Last time she recalled neither of them had spoken, let alone met in private somewhere else—though she did not express it out loud because Kira could read it on her face.

"Don't say anything to them; nothing will change." He expressed, crossing his arms as his eyes followed the small baby that was in her arms. "Mm, Hitsugaya Toushiro was quick to make choices in his life—how fortunate."

"Are you going to mock me or what?" A vein popped in her face, eyes narrowed at the man before her.

Kira grinned, pulling out a picture of a European woman and a small girl in her arms. "No, we share the same faith is all."

"Tch, dumb ass," she smiled at one of the older friends she had thanks to her brother.

"Now, now...watch that mouth young lady." A voice suddenly called her out, followed by a light smack in the back of her head.

"Oi, what the hell!" She exclaimed, turning around to see yet another familiar face. "Shiba..."

"Oh, now you remember to call me by my surname..." Shiba Kaien chuckled, patting her head just like he did when she was a child. "You never change, still a child. Though, I must say that I'm proud of you. Oh, Kaito-kun."

The man carried the child, making faces at the small baby that was amused by the new face. Karin sighed, it was useless trying to get inside at this very moment with all of her older brother's friends; who were practically like family since she knew all of them. Though she still wanted to know what the hell was going on with Yuzu and Hisagi—not that she cared one bit because Yuzu was an adult, but it was strange.

Everyone entered the church as the groom suddenly arrived dressed neatly in the classic black suit and a red tie to match his hair. It was down, especially since Renji knew that his future wife liked it down despite its length—so he put up with it and let it down for the occasion. Slowly, the time was closing in for the ceremony and everyone was practically a nervous wreck because it was unpredictable if Tatsuki would actually show up.

Though, mostly the much closer friends were passive about it and did not over react much like everyone else. Rukia and Ichigo had made sure that the wedding will happen, much to Karin's greatness because she wasn't willing to let her time go to waste because of stupidity. The music began to play, everyone stood up as the bride entered the church looking rather poised and in control of the situation.

Everyone stared in awe as the bride reached the altar, unafraid and looking like she might just stay in place. The entire guests were at the edge of their seats as the ceremony began, the bride and groom stared at each other mostly throughout the ceremony—it was quite beautiful from a standpoint.

Renji and Tatsuki seemed to be so absorbed into each other, completely forgetting that there was an audience watching because it wasn't so important anymore. Despite the fact that it felt like being stuck in those romance novels that were highly dramatize, that wasn't even enough to make them look away from each other.

"Congratulations, Renji and Tatsuki." Karin appeared as the reception began, handing them a large box wrapped in silver paper.

"Thank very much for everything, Karin." Tatsuki and Renji bowed.

"No need to thank me so formally, we've been friends practically since I was born," she chuckled while shaking her head. "Well, we are practically almost like family."

"Might as well change our surnames, eh?" Renji laughed, hugging his wife.

"Not in a million years, Abarai." Kuchiki Byakuya appeared with Hisana and Raito. "I do not wish for my nephews and my niece to be related to the likes of you."

"Sadly to say that they are," Ichigo appeared with a smirk on his face. "Related to the likes of you that is."

The raven haired man grunted in response, guiding his wife and son to the party inside. "Oh, congratulations, Renji-kun and Tatsuki-chan." Hisana smiled warmly at them, before disappearing into the crowd.

The party was not themed into anything in particular, seeing that the main couple wasn't exactly into anything in particular, but it was classic. Karin felt proud of herself for finally making it happen, well that there was the help of everyone because they all share the same though—Renji and Tatsuki needed to get married sooner rather than later.

"You did a wonderful job," Toushiro expressed to his wife, as they stood outside of the reception room.

"It takes a lot of talent to pull something like that," she answered with a smile, turning to look at him. "And thanks too."

He reached out for her hand, taking it to give it a gentle squeeze as they walked out into the garden and away from the crowd. There was no reason to continue fearing, to continue to look back upon all the events that had taken simply months ago—but they all felt so far away. Despite the little time that had passed, neither of them could clearly wrap their minds around the fact that they were going to be together for the rest of their lives.

It was better like that, Toushiro did not feel the need to seek other answers to questions that were futile to even ask and Karin would agree on that alone. They were together now with their two children, a large family that was composed of people who were incredible on their own and accepted them after all the events that they had lived. Together they would cross past all those obstacles, past the things that would come between them and their happiness because they could not simply be separated by actions that couldn't be strong enough to pull them apart.

The dark haired young woman continued to smile. "What are you smiling about?" The young man asked.

"I'm happy being here, that's all." She replied before guiding him deeper into the garden. "Are you not?"

She turned to him, staring deep into his turquoise eyes to seek deeper answers and something more. What was there to say really? He was happy to be standing there, alive with two sons that were the best in the entire world, and Karin standing there before him wearing the same silver band as him that symbolized their bond together. So, what was being happy all about? It all depended upon Toushiro to decide; therefore he decided that he was happy indeed.

"Being right here at this very moment, that makes me happy." Toushiro answered the question.

Karin smiled again. How bizarre it was, looking back a year and a half ago, none of it would compare to the happiness that ran inside of her. However, there would be more to come because there was no need to fear the future anymore. Both of them could accept it like that, it was really fine and almost anti-climatic in a sense.

"Oi, Toushiro and Karin, come one they are leaving!" Ichigo appeared suddenly, shouting at them.

"We're going, Kurosaki." Toushiro answered, taking Karin's hand and walking back to bid farewells to the new couple.

The red and orange colours of the sky reflected upon the white room, the tables sat silent as the crowd gathered outside to bid farewell to the couple as the black limousine picked them up. The bride and groom smiled at everyone, thanking them and they were gone while everyone else cheered. In time it seemed that things would simply be at a standstill point, but that was better compared to all the drama that all of them had lived before. Toushiro and Karin held smiles on their faces as they held onto their children while walking down the street, away from the rest of the world to return to their new home.

"I love you, Toushiro." She expressed softly.

"As do I, Karin." He said as well, learning to appreciate those words deeply.

* * *

_And this is chapter 18 and the last chapter too everyone. Sadly to say, this story just had to come to an end. Worry not, I got inspiration for an epilogue, so you'll see that. It shall be sat in a future far away--well when Yoshiro and Kaito are much older of course hahaha. Well...*bows* thank you everyone for reading my story, for supporting it, for commenting, favouring it, alerting and all of those wonderful things that you can do here on FF. There were the ups and downs to this story, but finally I can say that I feel content with this as well just like my past story. So, a million thanks again for reading my story. There's another one on the works--it has yet to be titled and I'm still trying to figure out a plot. It shall be coming out before the end of the year, or at least I hope so. Until my next story--sayonara! *bows* _


	19. Epilogue

**Disclaimer:** Yeah, we know, we know...on with the story!

* * *

+--Red Moon Winter--+

"Even in the end,

The happiness that we know

Is the only thing that

We both acknowledge."

_In the span of a month, things naturally remained calm for the moment and things sailed smoothly. The small family gathered themselves for a day of fun in the park, alongside the rest of the family for their new tradition of the Hitsugaya-Kurosaki family picnic. Karin thought it had been the most outrageous and most stupidest idea that had ever come out of her father's mouth; sadly to say, her husband had agreed to attend despite his lack of social skills with all the family in gatherings. Currently, she stared at herself in disbelief in the small pocket mirror, while examining her eye as it had gotten an eyelash stuck inside it. Somehow this had to be the craziest thing since the time Rukia had joined in with the family those years ago. _

_Everyone wore their warmest clothes, as February still made it impossible to wear light clothing. Yoshiro and Kaito were wrapped in blankets to keep them warm, while Karin herself was in a thick coat and simple jeans. Toushiro simply wore his blue jeans and a normal jacket; of course, he was fond of the cold weather unlike the rest. Ichigo was in pair of blue jeans as well, much to casual compare to his usual fancy suits while Rukia was in a dress with leggings to keep her warm. Their children were normal as well, compare to the rest, somehow they were accustomed to the cold weather for some reason; only little Amaya was wrapped warmly. _

"_If that old man doesn't hurry, I'm leaving." Ichigo muttered, picking out the grass from the ground while scowling hard. _

"_It was his stupid idea in the first place, and he doesn't even show up," Karin muttered, clenching her fists on her sides. _

_The rest nodded in agreement, though not so much on the insulting, but more like the waiting part. After all, they had sat there practically for an entire thirty minute period, watching other people walk by and stare at them—practically gawking that the two famous families were actually just like any other normal ones in the entire town. _

_Karakura was well aware of the famous families, there never went a normal day in which they would have to attend interviews—it was almost like they were famous stars. Only they would take up important interviews with newspaper that would talk about business or magazines that did the same; mindless gossip was out of the question. They worked hard to keep up an almost perfect image, though sometimes there were the small slip ups that were hard to avoid at all; mainly because they were still struggling with the whole 'spotlight' on them. _

_In recent weeks, the entire countries had managed to grow in the economy field and were slowly become more influential in comparison to the leading countries in the world today. Somehow that seemed a bit of a stretch, Toushiro had made the comment regarding that particular comment, but it had been taken out of context. The new company called SS Corp had skyrocketed to success so quickly and it had created new jobs for the people; it was what made them proud. _

"_MY CHILDREN!" The ever loudmouthed father finally appeared, carrying a basket on his hands and stupid smile on his face. _

"_Oi, stupid old man, you took ages once more." The eldest Kurosaki sibling spoke, his eyes hard and a threatening glare was giving to the man. _

_Isshin simply waved his hand, smiling as he settled the basket down. "Not likely, you must still be sleeping too long." _

"_Yeah...wait-what the hell!" The orange haired man glared at his father. _

"_Stupid goat chin," Karin commented, punching her father as he sat down. "You always make us wait, what the hell keeps you?" _

_The man laughed simply, unfazed by the punch. In truth, there were many things that were getting difficult to deal with everyday, like the fact that his children had moved out of the house entirely and that there was so much space to fill now that it was empty. Though, he would never admit to it at all, but he also did not want to say that he was planning on moving the country now to lead a quite life. In fact, Isshin had already purchased a small house close to the beach with his clinic money. The city life wasn't for him now, not when there was no one to fill the house inside. _

"_A man sometimes needs time for himself, now come of it my beloved daughter." He smiled like always, earning a frown from his daughter. _

_Sometimes it was hard to believe that all of those were actually related somehow; even people sometimes found themselves looking at the small family twice before realizing that they were actually real in some sense. _

"_Sorry for being late!" Yuzu appeared suddenly, gasping for breath as a man followed behind her. _

"_Oh, Yuzu..." her older brother looked up, smiling and then frowning. "Oi, Shuheei...what the hell are you doing here?" _

_The youngest Kurosaki smiled candidly, composing herself and setting down on the mat avoiding the confused looks on the rest of her family's faces. There was no need to hide anything from them; after all, she wasn't a little girl anymore and without the need to have permission to be with someone because they wouldn't approve of it. It was simple as that, none of them had a say in her life now that she was an adult that could make her choices on her own. _

_The man stiffened as everyone sat their eyes on him, not that he was actually fond of crowds, but he disliked it when people simply sat silently and stared at him. Everyone of his friends had warned him about getting close to the Kurosaki girl, but he wouldn't hear any of it because it didn't matter, after all everyone knew them. Though, maybe it had been a misconception as the orange haired older brother stood up looking rather pissed and glaring daggers at him. Perhaps this was really a bad idea from the start—coming to the family picnic that is. _

_Ichigo couldn't stand having guys lure around with his sisters, well he couldn't really say much with Karin now that she was married, but Yuzu was a completely different story. The sweet and innocent little sister, she was almost like an angel and the one that he needed to protect the most from lecherous man like his friend in front of him. Of course, he had known Hisagi for a while now since they had practically grown up together in that dojo downtown; though he was slightly two years younger than him. He didn't dislike the man nor liked him; it was something akin to being brothers in a sense because it was like that. _

_Somehow though, even that couldn't really make up for the fact that he was with his sister. That was nonsense, except that there was nothing that Ichigo could do now that his young sister was a grown-up and charged of her own life and choices—damn. _

"_Onii-chan, please..." she exclaimed, giving him that adorable sweet look on her face. _

"_Welcome—Hisagi," he couldn't bear to hurt the innocent sister at all. _

"_Ah, is this my newest son?" Isshin was never the one to fail to make stupid comments on the most awkward moments in life. _

_Before Hisagi had a chance to react or say anything, he was engulfed in a tight grip coming from Yuzu's father. Somehow things hadn't gone in plan nor had they actually began to fall in a plan, especially because the family was eccentric and unpredictable to say the least. _

"_Tch, this is unexpected," Karin scoffed, turning to her husband and grinning. _

"_This is what you get when you marry into this family," Toushiro smirked, earning a glare from his wife. _

_The picnic went on as planned, the family enjoyed their food while doing their normal arguing and fighting routine—it had been like that so many times before. All the passersby simply shook their heads as the punches between father and son began, the women simply watched in nonchalance while the pacifists ignored the whole thing on their own. The Hitsugaya-Kurosaki picnic perhaps hadn't been such a bad idea, after all, sometimes they needed to escape the brutal reality of work and business sometimes and the idea didn't seem that bad anymore. _

_Looking up at the sky, Karin smiled to herself and looked down at Toushiro while he held their two sons with a smile on his face. That was still unreal to actually wake up to everyday; the reality of it suffocated her heart entirely with feelings that were unimaginable to have before or even think about it. Life wasn't perfect nor would it ever be, but at this very moment it felt like everything was perfect just the way it was. _

...+

+--All We Can Say--+

Fear was a word that somehow held many meanings, plus adding on top the pressure of the name and the nervousness that overflowed to the rim of the plate. Somehow that alone was hard to analyze as he stared at the plate, it wasn't like this feeling was new to him—well more like it had never been there in the first place. Sure, being fearful of parents was one thing, but starting a school made it all seem like he was afraid of growing up. All of the jumbled up thoughts were making it harder to think as the milk stared back at him; it looked bland and completely white—how boring. He yawned effortlessly as his younger brother stared at him from the other side of the table; his dark coloured green eyes were curious and much too innocent for a ten year old kid.

The maid came around to serve him cereal, the usual meal of the morning nowadays while they waited patiently for their parents to burst out of nowhere yelling at each other about mindless things about grown up life. Of course, life was pretty much interesting outside of school and work; or at least it seemed so from the very outside look from it. What could he actually say? Nothing was enough to describe home life to others at all.

"...is not as you say it is." The voice of a woman could easily be heard from the hall.

"I will not approve of it, even if you begged." The voice of a man sounded slightly exasperated.

"Oh, so now I have to ask for permission from you?" Hitsugaya Karin walked inside the dining room looking pissed off, as usually in the morning.

Hitsugaya Toushiro followed behind her, glaring harshly. Both took their seats, glaring silently to each other before smirking to one another. Hitsugaya Yoshiro sighed, that was the usual morning routine from his parents as they would fight and then smirk for no reason at all. They were complex human beings, too prideful and strong willed to give in on an argument—and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Good morning, Kaasan and Otousan." Hitsugaya Kaito smiled at his parents.

"Good morning, Yoshiro and Kaito." Both of them smiled at their sons, forgetting their current argument and defeat to one another.

"Morning," Yoshiro replied simply, taking a mouthful off his cereal and looking at his parents.

Karin drank some of her coffee, though she couldn't because of her current—state of health. It wasn't evident as the previous times, even at seven months she looked smaller unlike no other time, but still. Toushiro looked at her, seeing her touching her swollen stomach and grinning to herself; it was a happy time again. Neither of them had actually accepted that at the beginning, it wasn't like they could afford to have another child, but it was difficult with their busy lives. Besides, they had a hard time being up to date with their two sons and attending all of their school activities or just being with them.

When the news had come, both of them were shocked completely because it was unexpected at a time like that, but neither of them really rejected it either because they had to accept it. Though they had to accept it with all their wholeheartedness, grabbing the courage out of nowhere and raise another child in their happy home. This time, after the shock and fear that somehow had gotten the best of them, they wanted to wait until the day of the birth of their child to find out if it was a girl or another boy.

Deep inside, both of them prayed for a girl; though never admitting to one another because they were like that with each other. Soon enough they would find out the gender of the baby, but they would just have to wait patiently until the baby would arrive.

Both of them decided to take their sons to school, which they didn't do on a regular basis, but it was also the first day back to school. Yoshiro did not want to be taken to school, he wanted to arrive there on his own without having his famous parents make a commotion over nothing, but there was no arguing with his pregnant and very hormonal mother at the moment. So, he was beginning high school and it was none other than the very own Karakura High School—wasn't it bad from the start to come to this school?

"Ah, this place brings old memories." Karin commented, as Toushiro parked outside of the school.

"Much like nightmares, not that we actually knew each other back then," he commented unexpectedly, as he turned off the ignition off.

Yoshiro stared up at the school it was just plain and simple; which he was rather grateful for because he did not want to attend private schools like his eldest cousin. Karakura High School was simply the first and only choice, not that there would be a problem with passing the entrance exam, but it was the only place that seemed fitting for the likes of him. No need to show off in the academicals and sports abilities, simply leading a quite normal high school life much like his parents. Though, there was simply a small problem—the Hitsugaya last name.

He remembered clearly on the day of his exam, all eyes seemed to be on him for some odd reason—mostly girls though—that it made him feel all nervous inside. There was no reason to have worried about the results because being always first in grades was not knew, studying came with the genes of being the son of a genius. Everyone raved about it though about how Hitsugaya Toushiro had been born a genius, skipping a few grades in primary school and winning contests—Yoshiro admitted that he admired his father greatly, but sometimes it was tiring being compared to him.

Sighing, the teenager stepped out of the car as his parents got out as well. The smaller boy grinned, pushing his older brother forward and jumping out of the car. There were already making a large line outside of the school, the opening ceremony would start in only ten minutes. Turning towards the proud parents, Yoshiro sighed again and then smiled to them. Karin grinned, walking up to her son and putting a hand on his cheek.

She had never pictured the moment in which her son would embark a new chapter of his life, it felt just like he had been born yesterday and had turned into a tall young man overnight. She was a proud mother, his light coloured green eyes were much like his father's along with the unruly style of hair; though it was black and his features were a mix of both of them. Any girl simply gawked at him—her son didn't even look like a first year high school student—but he always looked mature for his age.

"You've grown up so fast," her words were soft. "I'm proud of you and you know it so well, but I feel like reminding you about it every day."

Her son nodded, smiling at her. "I know, Okaasan, I know." Those were the words that ran inside of his already filled mind, but it always made him feel warm inside.

"Surpassing the expectations is always a given," his father put a hand on his head, looking down at him with those strong turquoise eyes. "We will always be very proud of that."

"Err...thanks." He blushed, spotting a few of his friends coming to join them.

The three boys, all wearing the Karakura uniform, held smirks on their faces. They weren't tall enough to reach the same height as Yoshiro, but they were pretty well built for simple first year students. The three of them stopped in front of the family.

"Good morning, Hitsugaya-san and Hitsugaya-san." The three of them greeted the two adults.

"Morning, boys it is simply lovely to see you." Karin grinned, simply annoyed by those brats that were impossible to control.

"Aoi, Hitoshi, Kenta...control yourselves please." Yoshiro sighed, pulling back his three friends as they were setting their eyes on his mother.

Practically almost all of his friends were in love with his mother; it was awkward because they barely paid any attention to anything when they were studying at his house or something. His mother was beautiful of course, she looked young and was pretty intelligent as well; a lot of men praised her for beauty and brains. Thankfully he didn't have many girl friends because they would also fall in love with his father—somehow it was in the genes of the family because it was the same with his uncle and aunt.

Toushiro glared at the three teenagers, it was silly that they looked at his wife with such eyes and disliked them greatly for it. Another reason why neither of them let themselves be seen by the public, especially the young crowd because it was impossible to handle their stares like that.

"Well, we are going in now." Yoshiro turned to his parents, after practically wanting to kick his friends into the school.

"Alright, take good care of yourself." Karin ruffled his hair.

"Remember to speak clearly and capture the attention of the audience," Toushiro stated, giving out his pointers of a speech.

The teenager nodded, smiling at his parents as he walked inside the gates of the school that he would practically see each day for the next three years of his life. In truth, sometimes it was hard to believe that he had such great parents and a great family as well that he loved dearly and could never trade for the world. Sure, the Hitsugaya-Kurosaki family was filled with great oddness and strange moments in life, but they were filled with a special feeling each time they would gather together.

Karin sighed softly, smiling still as her son disappeared in the shower of cherry blossoms and into the school. Who would've believed that a small boy would become an intelligent young man so fast? She did not believe that things would turn out that way, after all the struggles and the twists in life; there was so much to have to be thankful for. Toushiro smiled simply, holding his wife's shoulder as he directed her back to the car and off to drop off their other son.

"You worry over Onii-chan a little too much," Kaito commented as they got inside the car. "He's old enough to know what he's doing."

"You aren't old enough to know that kind of thing," Karin smiled at him. Both of their children were smart.

Kaito grinned simply, leaning back on his seat as the car pulled away from the school and off to the middle school he would start. Life surely took turns that were unexpected and weird at times, but the young boy enjoyed that kind of life because it was fun most of the time. Besides, no one would be fit enough to form part of this family at all.

"You will not cause trouble, will you?" His mother asked.

The light haired coloured boy sighed. "No, I will not. Stop worrying over me."

His father shook his head. "It is what parents do, so don't trouble your mother."

Kaito sighed, waving his hand as he disappeared into the school gates and off to begin school once more. The proud parents waved, even after he disappeared, they still had their hands on the air. Sometimes it was still impossible to let them go, despite having those two grow up quickly.

"We should go, there's an appointment to get to." Toushiro grabbed Karin's hand, leading her back to the car.

She followed, her head turning a bit still as her other hand rested on her round stomach. Soon enough, there would be a new addition to the family and the child will be loved the same way as the other two. Maybe things hadn't turned out badly after all these years, though she hoped deeply for things to remain merrily like that still as the years would simply slip away.

The shower of cherry blossoms looked like snow on a spring day; its sweet scent filled the air as the fine spring morning began quickly by the rush of the crowd. The sun was set high above the sky; the blue colour of the sky was tinted with the white puffy clouds creating a pleasant day for everyone; though it seemed that far off the rain was making its way. Karakura Town remained the same, perhaps it might remain as such for the years to come.  
...+

* * *

_GAH! Now I can breath. So, I couldn't come up with a better epilogue because I've been so busy with 4th partial exams, this English Christmas project and well with other problems. Recently a lot of people from my classroom got an email bad talking about us and bashing us completely, as of today, no one has found out who wrote that email at all. I think it's cruel and completely pathetic writing about people's private life for everyone else to see. I really, really hate it. Personally I did not give a damn about what they said about me, but the rest of my classmates have a lot of their personal affairs being exposed so it makes me really pissed off. Anyway, hope that you enjoyed this little epilogue because I really tried. I've over stressed, so I don't want anyone to stress either hahaha...well I'm going to try to prepare my new story in a few more days or so. Thank you for reading and supporting my story. This is finally the end! *bows* Thank you to everyone again! _


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